Acquired Madness
by AcquiredMadness
Summary: [ANGST/Slight AU] "Because I remember every lie you've ever told me!" Emily shouts at Alison, all control flying out of her body & pent up rage arising, her arms swinging in frustration. "I could write a BOOK with all the lies that has came out of your mouth! But better yet.." Tears begin to escape her eyes as her voice cracks, "I could have written NOVELS for what I felt for you!"
1. Chapter 1: Rotting Blood

**[Summary] Sometimes faced with danger for so long, lies, psychological abuse, death and paranoia can really change a person from who they used to be and can play a big role in what they morph into. Tortured since junior year, committing murder and other criminal acts to protect herself, the sweet, charming and outgoing Emily changes into this completely different girl that she hardly recognizes in the mirror. Some say it's the effects of trauma, Emily calls it "Acquired Madness".**

 **This story is a Slight AU. This season, season 6, the girls escape the dollhouse and will still have some run ins with A/Charles before everything actually ends. However, in this story, the girls escape the dollhouse and A's taunts completely finishes. Being the slight AU that this story is, not everything that happens on PLL will transfer to this story, only things that will help further the story. For example, in this fic, it was Caleb, Ezra and Toby that helped rescue the girls from the dollhouse while Alison was in lockdown in her house.**

 **Senior year is almost ending and the girls, especially Emily, have to find a way to recuperate and move on with their lives. Everyone deals with rehabilitation and healing differently but Emily and Alison are having a particularly hard time. This is an Emison fiction** _ **but**_ **I cannot guarantee you a smooth sailing. Unlike the fluff and cuteness of my other story, "** _ **Trouaville**_ **", this would be the complete opposite. With that being said….**

 **READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!**

 **This is a rather dark drama and angst-filled story with the relationship between Emily and Alison being tested. Emotions will spiral to hell. I know with the possibility of Emison in PLL failing with new characters and "love interests" coming into the picture, the last thing the fandom needs is more angst so if you are weak-hearted, I suggest you to find a happier story. I say this because I love you enough to warn you :)**

 **And now for the feature presentation….**

 _ **Acquired Madness**_

CHAPTER #1: Rotting Blood

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Silence masks the room as the ticking of the wall clock becomes louder and louder with every second passing.

… _Tick…_

… _Tock…_

… _Tick…_

… _Tock…_

… _TICK..._

… _TOCK…_

… _TICK..._

… _TOCK…_

Emily emptily blinks as she sits stiffly on a black leather chair, looking ahead of her at a café brown painted wall. Dr. Sullivan intently stares at the brunette like a child waiting as they watch the cuckoo clock on the wall, anticipating the bird to pop out at the strike of a new hour, chiming the time.

 _Except the bird never appears._

 _The chiming never comes._

 _The strike of the new hour reaches,_

 _And there is nothing._

 _Nothing but silence,_

 _And ticking._

… _TICK..._

… _TOCK…_

… _TICK..._

… _TOCK…_

The sound of Dr. Sullivan's pen making contact with her notepad faintly adds onto the monotone ticks, causing Emily to narrow her eyes at her, not breaking her body posture. After a few moments of writing notes about her patient, Dr. Sullivan clicks her pen and raises her head back towards the brunette only to find Emily glaring at her. An uneasy sensation waves over the psychiatrist's body as the scowl on Emily's face pierces through her, making her feel uncomfortable. Her prior face expression registered as impassive, unmoving and distant. However, with her now unblinking eyes fixed on Dr. Sullivan, it is cold and dark in a way that it's unnerving.

It's almost as if you were alone in local gas station store at night. You're searching the aisles for a quick snack and drink to settle your sudden munchies when you finally pick out something. You walk over to the checkout where there is a line of two people in front of you. You patiently wait in the line as your eyes drift around the store to pass time. As your eyes wonder, you see a man staring at you from one of the aisles. He's not looking around to buy anything, he's just standing there.

Motionless.

Staring at you.

From the intense staring and the bad vibes, you look away and focus at the line in front of you, completely creeped out. As the person in the front finally completes their transaction, the line scoots up a step with only one body away from you paying for your things and getting the hell out of there. You don't dare to look back because of the fear of the man still there so your impatience starts to rise as you wish for the person in front of you to hurry up. After a few extra moments, it's your turn to pay for your snacks. You quickly shove the goodies onto the counter as you grab the money out of your pocket. The cashier swiftly scans your products and tells you the final cost. You hurriedly give them your bill as they proceed to retrieve your change. As they count the correct amount of ones and fives they must give back, you begin to rock on your toes anxiously, feeling incredibly uneasy. When the cashier hands you your money, receipt and bag, you let out a quick _"Thanks"_ and speed walk out of the store into the parking lot. Trying to be a normal as possible, you unlock your car door and throw yourself inside. With shaky hands, you start the car immediately, grasping the gear handle to reverse out of your parking spot. Before you turn to look behind you, you glance into the store glass and see the man again, this time in a different spot.

Still staring at you.

The intensity of his look causes you to completely freeze up and grip steering wheel as if there was a life or death situation and if you let go of the wheel, you'll die.

Those unsettling eyes were brown and belonged to a high school senior named Emily Fields.

…

Dr. Sullivan's door swings open as Emily strides out of her office, Dr. Sullivan following behind her. Waited in the waiting room, Wayne and Pam Fields rise to their feet upon seeing Emily and the psychiatrist.

"I'll be in the car." Emily grumbles as she walks past her parents, leaving the building. They watch their daughter leave then turn their sights to Dr. Sullivan who slowly approaches them.

"Was everything alright?" Wayne questions the doctor, worried about his daughter's behavior.

She lets out a wry, flat smile as she consults the parents, "I didn't get anywhere today. That entire hour was spent in silence."

"Wait, she-she didn't talk?" Pam raises her eyebrows in concern.

Dr. Sullivan sadly shakes her head, "We went into the office, I asked her how she was and I got no response back. I told her she can begin to talk whenever she feels comfortable and that's how everything stayed." She crosses her arms and sighs out in defeat, "She didn't utter a word for the whole session."

Pam looks up at Wayne troubled as he scratches the stubble on his sleepless face. "What do you suggest we do, Dr. Sullivan?" He exhaled, his eyes sagging with fatigue.

"Is there any medication that we could use to help improve her behavior?" Pam chimes in.

"Unfortunately, I cannot prescribe any medication for Emily without knowing her behavior prior. If she would just give me _something_ , I would know what category to put her under and what medication would be best suited for her." The psychiatrist explains, "Best bet is to allow Emily to get as close to her normal life as possible. Healthy outlets, allowing her to be around her friends, and your guys' unconditional support. It's going to be a long, rocky journey so a positive environment is something that should be a top priority."

Pam and Wayne give an agreeing nod as Dr. Sullivan extends her hand onto Wayne's shoulders, "If you guys need anything, give me a call." She soothes the distressed parents.

They give their gratitude to the psychiatrist as they turn to exit the office building. Dr. Sullivan hesitates for a moment before calling for Mrs. Fields. Both stopping, Pam gives Wayne the affirmation to wait for her in the car then turns back to the doctor.

"Yes?"

"Going through such a tragedy as Emily did could cause an immense amount of trauma to a person," Dr. Sullivan lowers her voice to a whispering level, causing Pam to lean in closer, "Have you…noticed a drastic change within Emily? A very negative adjustment to her behavior?"

Pam's eyes dart from side to side in front of her as she tries to recall the last week spent with Emily since the dollhouse. "I noticed that she is a little bit more distant, yeah." She nods her head looking up at Dr. Sullivan. "But that's pretty predictable given the situation."

"Yes, it is. However, having Emily as a patient prior, she's showed a tremendous change. Before, as you may know, Emily tended to be anxious a lot; Fidgety, feeling powerless, lack of eye contact. But today, she had this look to her that was quite worrisome to me." Pam clutches her chest as she cringes, worried about the well-being of her daughter. "While sitting in silence, Emily was looking away from me with a vacant expression. I looked away for a brief moment to write some things down and when I look back up, she's _glaring_ at me." She shakes her head as her mind replays the scene over again, seeing Emily's baleful eyes. "This…unkind fixed glare. She held it for about a minute before the session ended but I've never seen her in such a state before."

Pam hangs her mouth partly open in surprise, shaking her head, "I've never seen her do something like that. That doesn't even…that doesn't even sound like my Emily."

"Just…" Dr. Sullivan nods as she reaches out to touch Pam's hand, "Keep special attention on her." She gives a sympathetic smile.

…..

"I think we should start school tomorrow." Hanna despondently suggests to her three other friends as they sit in various parts of Spencer's room; Spencer and Aria sitting on the bed, Hanna sitting on a chair and Emily standing in the doorway. "The longer we wait, the more work we'll have to make up and I _really_ don't want to be working my ass off in the last few moments of senior year."

"You're right," Spencer agrees, "It'll be healthier anyway…us hiding away isn't going to help us heal." Spencer looks down at her fingernails, muttering, "We'll just become prisoners within our own minds."

The girls become quiet, everyone's thoughts flying into different direction while their eyes trail off to themselves.

"How's your mom taking to Caleb staying over?" Aria turns to ask Hanna, coming up with some type of question to keep the room from staying soundless.

"She didn't want him over but what she fails to realize is that I _need_ him. I cannot be left in my" Hanna abruptly stops as she clenches her jaw, "in _that_ room. So at this point, she has no say: Caleb stays. His arms are the only place that I feel safe." She trails off as she fiddles with the bracelet on her wrist, a gift Caleb give her on their anniversary.

"Same with Toby…" Spencer adds on.

"Same with Ezra," Aria makes the third passenger on the feels train, "I wish I could stay with him…"

Emily shifts her feet position as she stands with her shoulder leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. Aria senses possible discomfort.

"Hey, Em. Are you okay? You haven't said anything since we've been here."

"And say what?" She crinkled her eyes as her voice croaks from the lack of vocal cord use. "Add onto the romantic chain-link of how we feel safe in arms that don't belong to us? No thanks," She changes her sights away from the girls as she repositions her crossed arms, "I'm good."

"Have you…" Spencer pauses, contemplating on asking the irritated brunette, "Have you spoken to Paige?"

Emily pushes her jaw to the side as she looks up towards the ceiling, "She said she wanted to come back. I told her not to." Emily keeps her eyes forward, not looking at anything in-particularly but imagining the last time she saw Paige, "I told her I was alright and she shouldn't have to come home…" Sorrow slowly making a home on Emily's face "Not for me. Paige did the right thing, leaving town. I won't drag her back into this."

Just at that second, Spencer's phone beeped, instantly sending waves of anxiety throughout the room with the girls wide eyeing her phone. Spencer looks at her notification and breathes out in relief, "That was Alison. She's almost outside." The stiffness of the room relaxes as the stiffness transfers to Emily's eyebrows.

"Alison?" She bewilderedly questions as if the mention of Alison joining them is unconventional.

"Yeah I-" Spencer frowns, tilting her head at Emily, "I invited her over." She squints, not understanding the strange tone in the brunette's voice, "She is a part of this group too."

 _Ding Dong!_

Spencer scoots her body forward to get off her bed but Emily stops her, "I'll get it." She pushes her body off the door frame and proceeds to answer the door to the awaiting blonde.

Walking down the stairs and towards the door, she catches a glimpse Alison standing on the other side, checking her surroundings as she waits for someone to answer. In a spot that can't be seen from outside looking in, Emily stops in her tracks as she stares at Alison. Her face pinched in annoyance, she debates even allowing Alison inside, making her wait in the heat of the sun. With every waiting second, Emily's tolerance level drops just at the thought of Alison yet alone looking at her. After a few more seconds of prolonging, Emily trudges to the door, swings it open and turns back to walk to Spencer's room, giving no greeting or acknowledgment to Alison.

"Emily." Alison calls out as she closes the flung opened door behind her. Emily continues to walks up the stairs and out of Alison slight, leaving her behind by herself.

"Hanna, are you ready to go?" Emily impatiently interrupts the girls' conversation as she enters Spencer's room.

"We-we just got here." Hanna looks at Emily perplexed. "Why do we have to leave?"

"Because I have to go home." Emily huffs not even trying to come up with a decent excuse of leaving so suddenly. Getting the roundup text from Spencer, Emily drove and picked Hanna up, of course with their assigned police guards tailgating them. The faint creaking of the stairs behind Emily begins to make her muscles tense, knowing it's only a matter of time before Alison is within breathing air of her since she's blocking the door entrance.

"I don't want to go back home. I'll be alone." Hanna tone drops as she hugs herself.

"Then you can stay over at my house." Emily annoyingly offers through her gritted teeth. She tried to remain as calm as possible but slowly losing her patience. Hanna obeys and gets up from her seating, giving a confused Sparia a quick bye. Emily quickly turns away from the room before she nearly runs into Alison. The blonde gives Emily a concerned look, opening her mouth to say something. However, not giving a second moment of hesitation, Emily brushes past Alison and paces it down Spencer's stairs.

"See…you guys…later…" Aria gives a single wave to Hanna.

Alison enters the room just as Hanna is leaving. Hanna gives Alison a nod and walks past her to follow after Emily.

Alison watches Hanna leave, "What happened in here?" she turns back to the remaining girls on the bed.

Spencer shrugs, "Your guess is just as good as mines."

…

Sitting outside in Emily's backyard patio, Emily uses the tips of her toes to push the porch swing she and Hanna are sitting on, Hanna sitting crossed legged. With the sun soon to begin setting, Emily nuzzles her lips around her water bottle looking out into the gated yard out in front of her. Their backdoor slides open and Wayne walks out onto the patio to check on his girls.

"Hey, guys." He walks over to the swing, resting his hands on his hips.

"Hi…" Emily responds, still looking forward.

"Hi, Mr. Fields." Hanna turns and faces Emily's father out of acknowledgment.

"Everything alright out here?"

"Yeah," Hanna responds again since it seems like Emily won't be doing much talking. "Just enjoying the fresh air."

"Alright. Just game out to check up on you guys." Wayne looks down at Emily who is sipping a greenish-brown colored liquid out of her water bottle. "What do you got there, Em?" he notions towards her drink.

Emily slowly swallows her drink, creating an odd silence for about three seconds before responding, "Canada Dry." She exhales. "Just transferred it from the liter to the bottle." She states forwardly.

Wayne slowly nods his head, feeling his unneeded presence and excuses himself back into the house.

Hanna waits until Mr. Fields is out of sight and into the house until she confronts Emily. "Unless Canada Dry has an alcoholic beverage line, I know that's not just carbonated liquid inside that water bottle."

Emily takes another sip of her Canada Dry, "I don't know what you're getting at," Emily still looks forward.

"You might can fool your dad but you can't fool an alcoholic." Hanna challenges Emily, "I can literally smell the liquor from within the bottle." She points to her nose, "This nose is a trained nose."

Emily finally turns to face Hanna, "I didn't _lie_. It _is_ Canada Dry." She looks back forward then tilts her head to the side, "Its Canada Dry _with_ Canadian Rye whiskey. Just going full out Canadian tonight. Give me a couple hours and I'll develop a Canadian accent."

Hanna smiles as she shakes her head, looking out into the backyard as well, "And you didn't even offer me some. What kind of friend are you?"

"I'm a fucking good friend." Emily responds back on beat causing Hanna to shoot her a look.

"What's up with you today? You seem…off"

" _Oh no_ , I'm _great_. _Superb_. _Fantastic_. _Fuckin' A._ " Emily raises the bottle to her lips but then stops before making contact, "You have Caleb, Aria has Ezra, Spencer has Toby and I….I have Rye. _This_ is what keeps me warm at night." Emily throws her head back and guzzles a mouthful of the last remains of her bottle. When finished, she examines over at her empty bottle as if she's making sure it's completely. "Rye…"She nods her head, "Rye is good to me." Emily gets up to grab herself another round when Hanna pulls her back into the swing.

"Emily. What the hell is going on?" She demands in a seriously concerned tone, leaning into the buzzed brunette.

"Well," Emily smacks her lips, "Right now we're on house arrest, although we can go anywhere we want with the exception of being followed by police officers." Emily leans in cheek to cheek with Hanna as she points out into the left side of her yard, leading into a back road. "And if you'd look to your _left_ ….you'll see a cruiser sitting over there with _probably_ …" Emily squints her eyes as she bounces her head from side to side, trying to think, _"…_ two officers watching our every. move."

Hanna lightly pushes Emily off of her, not taking her eyes off of Emily. "Why were you such in a rush to leave earlier?"

"I was planning on leaving anyways." Emily pouts indifferently, leaning back into the swing as she begins pushing the swing back and forth with her toes a little harder, looking straight ahead.

"Ok!" Hanna throws her hands in the air, "Quit the bullshit, Emily. You're gonna tell me everything _right now_. You were standing patiently still while we were up there. Spencer mentions Alison and you tense up? You allow her inside and the next thing I know, I'm being dragged back here within that same second."

"You know, you really shouldn't over exaggerate things."

Ignoring Emily's careless attitude, Hanna still presses on. "Did she say something to you? Is that why we left?"

Emily groans as she stands up, she stretches with her arms outstretched above her head then sighs, looking down at Hanna, "If you allow me to get myself a refill, I'll tell you anything you want to know."

"You're going to get yourself drunk and risk getting caught by your parents?" Hanna cocks an eyebrow, not liking any of this behavior.

" _No_ , I'm not going to get caught." Emily scrunches up her face, dismissing Hanna with a wave of her hand. "After this, I'm going straight to the couch."

Hanna hops off the swing, "Well, I'm coming with."

...

Putting a little more than half of Canada Dry in her water bottle, Emily closes her fridge, bends down and reaches into a cabinet to find her hidden bottle of Rye. With her arms crossed, Hanna stands by the entrance of Emily's kitchen, making sure no parent decides to take a stroll inside, seeing their daughter become intoxicated with her friend keeping watch. Emily spins the cap off the whiskey bottle and tops off hers all the way to the top. Hanna looks back to see if Emily is done creating her concoction

"You want some?" Emily asks Hanna, raising the bottle at her.

Hanna shakes her head, "No, thanks. One of us has to be coherent tonight."

"Ah, _coherent._ " Emily snickers to herself as she closes the lid on the Rye, "Nice word choice, Han."

"How are you able to get away with this, anyway?" Hanna walks over to a crouching Emily with a hushed whisper, "Wouldn't your parents notice that some of their alcohol is missing?"

"Easy," She stands up straight and grabs her drink, "They don't know it's here." The brunette leads Hanna back outside to the swing.

"If they didn't have it, how did you get that?"

"I have my ways."

"No." Hanna closes her eyes and shakes her head, disbelieving Emily. "There is no fucking way you got that alcohol by yourself. Not _even_ with a fake ID."

"What makes you say that?"

"We are two of the five most popular people in Rosewood right now, thanks to our local news and probably all over the US. Everyone knows us as five _high school girls._ No vendor in this entire town would sell you alcohol. You, Emily Fields, a high school senior. 18 not 21."

Emily raises the bottle to her lips, creating a smirk on her lips, "Who said I brought it?"

Hanna's eyes widen as she leans her head towards the brunette, "You had someone buy it for you? What the hell are you doing, Em?"

"What?" Emily shrugs her shoulders, innocently, "All I did is ask this respectable, guy if he could buy me a drink. I gave him the cash, he brought the Rye, he gave me back my change and we went separate directions. I didn't commit a crime."

"Yeah, well he did!" Hanna shakes her head, taking her eyes off Emily. Out of everyone, she would expect this behavior from herself but Emily seems to be beating her to it. "If anyone saw you guys made that switch, you would ha-" A thought bubble enters Hanna's brain as she stops abruptly mid-sentence. "Wait a second…" She spins her head and stares at Emily with widen eyes once again. "How the hell did you get alcohol while being tailed by cops?"

Emily leans back putting a hand behind her head, "I snuck out."

"What the _fuck_ , Emily?!" Hanna raises her voice louder than normal talking level as her face drops. She quickly looks around to make sure no one is near before she brings it back down. "Did you _not_ understand what we went through?! We still have this fucking psycho on the loose and you're going to sneak out?!" Her eyes burn through Emily as Emily takes another drink out of her bottle, looking at the sun now setting. "And you're totally nonchalant with this!" Hanna huffs as throws her hands up in defeat, frustration taking over her emotions, "Like fuck it, right?"

"Hanna," Emily swallows. She turns to face the red hot blonde who looks ready to pounce on her, "I get that you love me and care about my well-being but I'm ok! You don't have to babysit me."

"What the hell is going on between you and Alison?" Hanna snappishly changes the conversation. Seeing this side of Emily is fairly new to her and she's determined to get to the bottom of it.

"I really don't want to talk about her."

"This is not about what you want to do." Hanna bites back, "I know your drinking habits, Em. You drink when we're all together," She counts one finger, "you drinked when Maya got her ass sent to True North." She counts on her second finger.

"Hey." Emily spits out, the liquor beginning to pass the buzzed stage, "I don't care what point you're trying to make." She points at Hanna, "Don't fucking bring her up."

"You became a _drunk_ when she died." Ignoring Emily's warning, Hanna counts on her third finger. "And we all know what happened during that time. You _really_ want to go through all that again? Because it looks like you're trying to outdo yourself!" Hanna criticizes her friend out of love and concern. Everyone remembers Emily's drunk days. They were often sad, dark, and depressing. Knowing how it feels and the mindset you're in when you turn to alcohol for numbness, Hanna is only being hard because she doesn't want Emily to do this to herself. She doesn't want her to become vulnerable, not to Alison or anyone. Especially when A is liable to show up again since he/she/it/bitch hasn't been found.

"You only drink when you're heartbroken, so, if Alison has you sneaking out and buying liquor off of creeps off the street, we're going to fucking talk about it."

Emily bounces her leg as she bites her bottom lip, shaking her head at the thought of Alison, "It's because she's in my veins. She's in my veins and I need to flush her out." Her words slide off her tongue.

"What?" Hanna uncomprehendingly leans towards Emily, who seems like she's trying to convey something. "She's what?"

"She's like a heroin shot; broke through the skin and into my bloodstream. Except that was my first time doing heroin and everyone said it'll wear off in a few hours." Emily crosses one arm to hold the other, leg bouncing fast enough to shake the swing. "In those hours, I felt fucking amazing," Emily smiles, "because off all the attention and how potent the shot was. Except now, it has never worn off, instead, it's rotting my blood and causing me complications." Emily sucks in her bottom lip, looking forward out, "It has been lingering for years and now I'm scratching at my skin. Scratching to try to rip it out but the more I scratch, the deeper it goes."

Unknowing what to say, Hanna mouth slightly hangs open, speechless at Emily's true feelings. She tries to search for something to say but nothing arises to the occasion.

"Now…I'm a drunk addict," Emily laughs aloud, finding this whole situation pretty humorous whereas Hanna does not. "Accompanying hard liquor to warm up my rotting blood." Emily raises her bottle to her lips, clenching her jaw. "But as chemistry has it, these chemicals make a dangerous mix."

 **Ok, Ok. How is everything translating so far? Good? Bad? Like it? Don't want it?**

 **YOUR OPINIONS ARE NEEDED. Honestly, I** _ **love**_ **reviews. It helps me gain a better understand of my audience.**

 **Special shout out to TGHall, you are amazing! :)**

 **Quick note about me. I am a Uni. student studying psychology. Out of all the different branches, abnormal psychology seems to really stick out to me. So, throughout this story, not only will you see things from the emotional perspective, you will also see and understand from the mental state and psychological effects as well.**

 **Think you can handle the madness that's yet to come?**


	2. Chapter 2: The Prologue of a Storm

**Thank you guys so much for taking in my little fiction child. Chapter one pretty much sets the tone for everything.**

 **With our new characters, Sara & Lorenzo, Lorenzo definitely will appear but Sara…? Not likely. Maybe if I find an appropriate spot of her? **

**Anyways, time to dive into chapter 2!**

 **Enjoy!**

CHAPTER #2: The Prologue of a Storm

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Being awaken from her alarm app and the constant messages from Hanna, Emily is fully, unwillingly but fully, awake for the upcoming school day today. From the prior night's drinking session, Emily passed out on her living room couch, forgetting that she's Hanna's ride back home. To prevent any suspicion on Emily's behalf, Hanna gets a ride from Mr. Fields, blaming Emily's tiredness on the long day. Dressing casually down, Emily sports a dark charcoal grey slouchy t-shirt, white skinny jeans, and grey converses.

Feeling the effects of her drink combination, Emily was slightly impressed it didn't damage her more then she thought it would. Although her head is slightly throbbing and she still feels a bit drowsy, she's more thankful she didn't go all out. She knew the trouble she could get into sneaking alcohol into the house but that's what happens when your judgment is clouded. Popping her ego waffles out of the toaster, Pam walks into the kitchen also fully dressed for the day.

"Good morning, Em." She greets her daughter as she walks to the fridge. "How was your night with Hanna?"

 _Thank goodness she has a soft voice, my brain wouldn't have handled anything louder._ "It was alright, I guess." Emily shrugs, adding syrup onto her waffle. "We talked then she went home."

Pam takes a silent breath inside the fridge before she closes its doors, facing Emily. "What happened in Dr. Sullivan's office…? You never told us about it."

"Isn't that patient confidentiality?

"Emily."

She sighs as she leans her hip against the counter, taking a bite of her breakfast. "We really didn't have much to talk about."

"Well, why not?" Pam takes a step forward with concern smeared on her face, "These sessions are supposed to help you release and vent. You can't get anything out if you're keeping silent."

"I just have nothing to talk about." Emily turns her body away from her mother, getting annoyed by this random push. "I didn't feel like talking about anything yesterday."

"But then you _glare_ at her?" Pam shakes her head trying to understand the mind frame of her daughter. "You sat there and glared at her?"

Emily spins her body back around, the skin around her eyes wrinkled, "She said I glared at her?" She asks with a louder tone. "She was scribbling something down in her notebook and I did was look to see what she was writing! I didn't _glare_ at her."

Pam closes her eyes and rubs her temples, beginning to become distressed so early in the morning. Emily rolls her eyes and grabs her waffles, "I have to get to school." She swiftly strides out the kitchen, leaving her stressed and unhappy mother behind.

…

Standing inside the school hallway at Spencer's locker, all four girls meet up before classes begin. All due to Hanna's persistent text messages of course. Even if you put your phone on 'Do Not Disturb', she would somehow still get messages sent through.

"How are you feeling today, Emily?" Aria sets her sights on the brunette, asking out of concern of yesterday sprint out the door.

Emily sucks in a big amount of air as she rolls her head up, "I am _fine_!" She forces a smile that doesn't match her sarcastic and annoyed tone. "I was fine _yesterday_ , I'm fine _today_ , and I'm going to be fine _tomorrow_." She looks back at her phone, "I am _fine_."

Spencer and Aria look at Emily with different versions of alarmed confusion as Hanna looks at her unbothered, knowing Emily is not fine and won't be for a long time. Spencer breaks yet another awkward silenced caused by Emily, turning to Aria.

"In Stinson's class, do you know if we ever turned in…" Spencer's voice trails off as Hanna stands beside Emily and squeezes her arm. Not in a warning gesture but as a supportive one. She takes a peak at Emily's phone, seeing that she's looking up some kinds of designs.

"Are those tattoos?" She asks quietly enough for only Emily to hear.

"Yeah….just looking at different kinds. This one is cute. Look." She lifts her phone to Hanna's eye level.

Hanna nods, "It is…if you're contemplating getting a tattoo…which you're not, right?"

Emily lowers the phone and continues to scroll through the different images, not responding to Hanna's question.

"So, I'm just going to pretend that was a silent ' _No, Hanna. I'm not getting a tattoo.'_ thing you just did there _._ Besides, your parents would literally _kill_ you if they found out you got a tattoo. Isn't that against their moral code or something?"

"Well, being gay is against their ' _moral code_ ' and I'm not dead yet." Emily locks her phone and stuffs it in her back pocket.

Just as Emily puts her phone away, she gets a strange sensation as if someone was standing behind her. She turns her head around to see that someone was standing behind her.

Someone she really rather not see.

Instead of physically showing her discomfort with Alison being behind her, she looks past her then turns back around as if Alison was invisible.

"So…I'll see you guys later. I'm going to head to class early today." And with that, Emily whisks out of the circle and walks into the direction of her class. Upon leaving, the empty spot Emily once stood in reveals a wounded Alison.

"Oh hey, Ali!" Aria greets the blonde. In that same beat, Alison walks past the girls to follow after Emily.

"Ok…" Aria watches Alison walk out of sight then turns back to the remaining friends. "Ok, something definitely is going on with them two. I'm going to see what's the matter." Aria proceeds to walk after the two when Hanna grabs her arm, pulling her back.

"No. Let them be. They need handle their business by themselves."

…..

"Emily."

"Emily!"

Being ignored, Alison quickly rushes in front of Emily right before she enters her class, " _Hey_! I was calling you!"

"And?" Emily carelessly shrugs, looking around the hallway, not meeting Alison's eyes.

Alison looks at Emily with utter confusion, "Ok, did I do something to you?"

"Why does it matter?"

"Why does it matter?" Alison raises her voice a notch out of frustration, "I haven't seen or talked to you in a week! And every time I do come around, you run off! You're avoiding me like I'm a freaking Ebola patient."

"Oh, I'm sorry that the world doesn't revolve around you, Alison." Emily sighs, finally making eye contact. Alison instantly taken back by such rudeness coming out of her. "I'll be sure to put a sticky note on my forehead to remind myself to acknowledge you every time you walk into the room." Emily brushes past Alison to walk into her classroom.

Not letting that rude and uncalled for remark slide, Alison grabs onto Emily's arm just as she began to walk into class.

Turning her head to the side, looking at Alison through the corner of her eyes, Emily responds before Alison has time to utter anything, "I suggest you let me go, Alison." She growled. She forcibly pulls her arm out of Alison's grasp and walks through the door of her classroom.

Alison emerges into the empty classroom, following Emily to her seat.

Emily sets her things on the desk and turns to find Alison, once again, on her heels. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You think a door is going to stop me from coming in here?" Alison confronts the sour brunette, "From trying to find out what the hell I did to you to make you act like this towards me?"

Emily shakes her head and smiles at Alison in a mocking way, "You just don't get it to do?"

" _No_." She shoots back, leaning in front of Emily's desk. "I _don't_. So, why don't you spell it out for me so I can _get it_."

Alison and Emily bask in a long silent stare down battle; neither one of them letting up. The brown eyes filled with irritation and aggravation against the bewildered and determined blue eyes. After a long ten seconds, the silence is broken by the door opening and heels clicking on the floor. Just then, Alison spins her head back to see the teacher walking into the classroom. Although, Alison's focus has been broken, Emily is still glaring on. However, the longer she looks onto Alison, the more she feels her glare is losing power; Something she hates that Alison does to her. Just how Superman's weakness is Kryptonite and Storm's weakness is claustrophobia, Emily's weakness is Alison DiLaurentis.

"Hello, Alison and Emily!" The female teacher greets the first two students in the classroom. "We're so glad you guys are back and safe."

"Thank you, Mrs. Middleton." Alison casually responds back, not too giddy but just enough emotion to seem fine. Alison turns back to Emily who is looking down. "If you don't tell me," She whispers, "I'm not going to leave."

"Yes you will...you always leave." Emily mutters to herself but Alison hears clearly. Alison continues to stand in front of Emily's desk as the students of the class started to enter and take their seats. With only a few minutes left before class starts, Alison still hold her stance.

"I'll stand here during the whole class period if I have to." Alison crosses her arms defiantly. "I don't have any classes. I'm only here for to talk to the counselor so I have all day."

"Fine" Emily sighs out, looking at the other students who are beginning to whisper and take notice of "the overturned convict" and "kidnaped convict" in the corner of the class.

Alison drops her arms by her side, "Meet me at The Brew after school." She looks at Emily for verification, "Ok?"

"Ok…" Emily confirms, still not making eye contact.

Alison turns and walks out of the classroom, not saying a word or looking in anyone's direction. Watching her leave, Emily slumps back into her chair. _Every. Time. Without. Fail._

…

Going through her first day back in her classes, Emily sits in the back of all of her classes and doesn't participate in any of the daily learnings. She doesn't understand how, after all the things she and her friends went through, they still have to go to school. The district should just look at their GPA and finalize them, not making them go through the pain of going to classes every day and allow them to walk at the end of the school year. But Spencer was right, it'll give them something to do rather than to sit and sulk inside their own minds. During lunch, the girl's didn't have much time to themselves being that each of them had to visit their academic counselors to see their game-plan for the end of senior year.

As soon as the dismissal bell rang for the end of the day, Emily went to outside to the bicycle rack only to be found by her friendly "bodyguard" from Rosewood PD. Ever since the girls have been found, Each girl has been placed under severe watch. Wherever they go, the police will follow and because of the intensity of "A", there are police keeping tabs on the girls' at all times.

 _Wherever they go, the police will follow._

…..

Cruising through the warm streets of Rosewood with a cruiser slowly trailing behind, Emily approaches the entrance of The Brew. Working under Ezra, it's a no-brainer that she is out on leave because of the entire arrested/kidnapped fiasco she has endured. As she slows down past the window of the establishment, she sees Alison setting at a table.

 _Waiting._

She checks her phone for the time and patiently waits at the two seated table, waiting for Emily to arrive.

 _Waiting._

Standing on her bike watching Alison, Emily looks down and taking breaths trying to keep herself tranquil. She knows with Alison, they're conversations can turn into screaming matches and her job is the last place she wants to do that.

Alison crosses her hands out in front of her, patiently waiting for Emily to walk through the door. Just as she begins to turn and look at the window, a voice appears from behind her.

"Alison?"

She turns her back to see someone she's seen a couple times but cannot yet put a name to the face.

"Hi." She politely greets the male. She squints at him. "I know I've seen your face somewhere before…"

"Lorenzo," he puts his hand on his chest, flashing a smile out of uniform and in casual attire.

"Ah." Alison nods her head, "You work with Toby and one of the officers assigned to our cases."

"Yeah, you can kinda say that." He points to the open chair in front of her, "Is this seat taken?"

"Well," Alison checks her phone for the time once more, "I was supposed to meet someone here, actually. Looks like they're running late."

Watching Alison and some guy converse through the window, Emily disappointedly shakes her head and kick-starts her bike and continues on her path home. Leaving Alison to wait. Without a word. Without cancelation. _She won't miss me._

…..

"You left her hanging? Why?" Hanna asks from the other side of the phone call.

Emily walks through her house, just coming from the local drugstore. "I just didn't want to do it."

"With all the closure and answers you deserve from her, you had your chance. Why not go?"

"It's my weakness-She's my weakness, Han." Emily pauses for a moment, deciding not to tell her one of the main reasons why she didn't enter the business, "Remember the movie Hancock?"

"With Will Smith, yeah?"

"Remember how Will and Charlize were always together?" Emily walks upstairs towards her bathroom, "During every lifetime they were always together. No matter how far they were from each other, faith would _always_ bring them _together_?"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember what their weakness is?"

"Each other…" Hanna's tone drops a bit, realizing where Emily is going with this example.

"And what would happen whenever they were near each other for too long?"

"They would become weak. Their presences would weaken each other."

"Exactly!" Emily throws down her bag from the store on her sink. " _Exactly_. But the whole issue with that is _I_ feel like Will and Charlize. Whenever I'm with Alison, _I_ become weak. _I_ put out everything-give my everything just to be played in return!" Emily looks at herself in the mirror. "And going to see her, I was going to melt in her hands. Just like she'd expect me to do. But…at the same time…I probably would have lost my cool. She has that effect on me well."

 _Ding Dong!_

"Well aren't you guys perfect for each other."

"Anyways….enough about her." Emily digs into her bag with the products she had brought from the store. "I went to the store after school and I was thinking of maybe-"

"Emily! Can you come downstairs, please?" Emily's father voice travels from the lower level.

"I'll call you back, Han. My dad is calling for me."

Emily ends her phone call with Hanna than proceeds to leave her bathroom and walk down the stairs. Halfway down the stairs, she sees a visitor waiting for her in the living room.

 _Are you serious right now?_

Emily slows her steps as she makes eye contact with Alison watching her come down the stairs, mentally asking herself why Alison is there. Oblivious to the situation, Wayne leaves the two girls to themselves as he continues his duties.

"Why are you here?"

"Why did you stand me up?"

Emily reaches the final steps of her stairs, not proceeding any farther. "I forgot," She shrugs.

Alison cocks her head at Emily, not believe a word. "I find that extremely hard to believe."

"Look," Emily lowers her voice, feeling herself beginning to get upset. "If you've came to my house to argue with me, you can turn around and _leave_."

"I didn't come here to fight you, Emily." Alison slowly walks towards the stiff brunette, "I just want to know what's going on."

Knowing that Alison won't leave without answers, Emily eyes drift off as she thinks. _The living room is too public. I don't want her in my room. The attic is too far up.… If we go outside, we might fight and I don't need extra attention_. Mentally debating where to hold this conversation,Emily reluctantly nods and points her hand upstairs towards her room. While not moving a muscle, Alison walks towards the stairs and makes a moment's worth of eye contact with the brunette before continuing towards her room. Emily turns and looks in the direction of the kitchen. _I'm probably going to need a drink for this._

…...

Closing her room door empty handed, Emily keeps her hand on the door with her back facing Alison. Debating with herself on what direction she should take this conversation.

"What is going on?" Alison instantly asks, not giving a second to waste. "Why are you acting like this?"

"Do you love me, Alison?" Emily asks still facing the door.

Taken back by the question answered with another question, Alison responds back puzzled, "Why…why are you asking me this?"

Emily asks with her voice raised a notch with more affirmation, her hand balling into a fist, "Do. You. Love. Me?"

"….I-I-"

Emily spins around, cutting Alison off, "I need to know if you care about me."

"Of course I care about you, Emily." Alison defends herself.

"No." She shakes her head, stepping closer to Alison. "Not like how you care about Hanna, Spencer or a pet dog. Do you _care_ about me? Like how you said you did? Or was that all a lie?"

"Emily, I-"

"Because I care about you." Emily blatantly cuts her off again, "I care deeply for you and it _scares_ me. It actually _scares_ me because all it takes is one look from you." She holds up a finger, slowly walking towards her, "One look and it reminds me of all the things I would do for you." She drops her hand to her side, changing her tone with deepened unhappiness. "But I know you wouldn't do the same for me."

Now face to face, Alison begins to regret coming to Emily's house. She would have done much better with a text, that way she had time to come up with something rather than being put on the spot. "This…" She shakes her head. "Emily, I don't-"

Felling impatient and impulsive, listening to Alison dance around the question, Emily clutches the sides of Alison's head with both hands, "Don't you understand?" She shakes the blonde, "Don't you understand what you do to me? How you make me feel?" She lowers her head so their foreheads touch, looking deeply into Alison's eyes, searching for something. _Anything_. "Alison…" As much as she tried to control herself, control her emotions, her voice began to crack as her eyes watered. "I love you. Ok? I love you and I always have. And I want you-I need you tell me that you feel the same way. That-that I'm not crazy." She shakes her head against Alison's, "That these feelings I have are valid."

Alison gazes into Emily's watery brown eyes, unable to come up with anything. Her face overcome with sadness and remorse, a look and silence Emily is not liking.

"Alison, please…" She begs, softly whispering with their lips almost touching. "Alison, please say you do." Tears beginning to stream down her face while Alison opens her mouth, actually left speechless.

"Please don't be quiet because you're going to turn me into someone I'm not going to like, Alison... Alison, please." She grips Alison tighter as she walks her in the direction of her bed, the back of Alison's knee hitting the edge. "Tell me, Alison."

"Emily…" Alison slowly shakes her head, not knowing how to handle this situation. "Emily, I…I-This is a lot for me to-"

Emily clenches her jaw and she closes her eyes, shaking her head refusing what she's hearing. Instead, she pulls in Alison for a kiss, their lips smashing together with more power from Emily's side. Emily pulls away, still grasping onto Alison's head. "I love you, Alison." She kisses the blonde again then pulls apart, "And all I want is for you to love me too." She pulls Alison into her again but keeps their faces together. With all the raw emotion Emily is showing Alison, Alison continues to stay silent.

Feeling crushed, beginning to realize that her emotions are not being reciprocated, Emily chokes on her words as her voice cracks even more. "And-And I need to feel that you feel the same way too because…because-" Emily pauses in the middle of her sentence, softly beginning to cry, holding onto Alison as tight as her hands can grasp. "Because I feel….I feel like I gave my all to you, Alison."

Overwhelmed by all of the sudden out pour of emotions, Alison grabs onto Emily's hands as she tries to pull away from her. Emily continues to hold on to her desperately not letting go.

"Alison, please!"

"Emily, I have to go."

"No." Emily viciously shakes her head with her tears blurring her sight. "Nononono." She sniffles, "You don't get to leave. You always leave me."

"Emily…" She now uses all her force to pry out of Emily's stronger hands. "Emily, let me go!"

"Just answer me!" Emily yells out. The seriousness of Emily's anger begins to frighten Alison as she stays quiet, still struggling in the grasps of the brunette.

"FUCK, ALI! JUST FUCKING ANSWER ME!" She angrily shakes Alison's head again, shouting out in such loudness that's probably alerting every person in ear-shot distance.

"NO!" Alison uses all the energy she has to shove Emily out of her face, causing the brunette to stumble back.

" _I_ _can't!_ " she shakes her head, "I can't do this!" Alison rushes past Emily, opens her door and jogs down the stairs, trying to get out as quickly as she can, bypassing Emily's parents who are rushing towards in the sound of the distress.

Feeling broken and humiliated by Alison once again, Emily's rage quickly get the best of her as she stomps over to her door and hurls it shut into the door frame, causing a picture frame hung on the wall to fall and shatter onto the floor. She slides to the ground with her back against the door and brings her knees to her face, letting out all the frustration and tears she worthlessly just shed with the shouting of her concerned parents muffled in the background.

 **Uh oh…**

 **If the inner demons were at rest before, it certain looks like they're about to be awaken…**

 **And demons _love_ to play.**

 **Heartbreak is their favorite occasion**.

 **Please fav, follow and review a fellow author! :)**


	3. Chapter 3: Impulse

**Thank you all, once again, with being so involved with this story! Honestly your reviews are heart-warming to read.**

 **As many of you noted, Emily's personality definitely is changing. That loving, care-taker Emily has left the building and the new and improved one is making her way to the front of the battle field.**

 **Let's see where this battle takes us….**

CHAPTER #3: Impulse

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Sitting in the back lounge of the Brew, Hanna, Aria, and Spencer are spending the beginning of their weekend afternoon talking over coffee and pastries.

"Have any of you guys seen Emily? I haven't seen her since lunch yesterday." Aria throws out the question.

"Yeah, I haven't seen her lately either." Spencer responds, prompting her and Aria to look at Hanna.

"I spoke on the phone with her after school..." Hanna shrugs, "She hasn't answered any of my texts or calls since."

"Maybe she's sick?" Aria shifts her concerned eyes between the other two friends. "Maybe we should go check on her?"

The girls nod in agreement as they stand and pick up their belongings to get ready to leave in hopes of seeing Emily.

"Maybe she's with Alison?" Spencer asks as she hoists her bag onto her shoulders.

"I doubt that." Hanna mutters under her breath.

...

Parking on the sidewalk next to Emily's house, the gang walks up to the door and knocks, hoping for Emily to answer and explain her absence.

The door opens only to reveal a Mr. Fields.

"Hey, girls. How can I help you guys?"

"Hello, Mr. Fields." Spencer puts on a smile while she speaks up on behalf for everyone. "We wanted to know if we can see Emily?"

Wayne gives his most sympathetic look as he rests his hands on his hip. "I'm sorry, girls. Emily is not really up to any company right now."

"Is-is everything ok?" Hanna quickly interjects, "We haven't heard from her for a while."

"Yeah, she's just tired and needs her rest. I'll tell her you girls came by."

The girls sadly nod in an understanding before they turn around and walk back to their car.

"I don't know, guys..." Spencer says in a hushed voice. "Something is wrong with this picture."

...

 _Knock. Knock. Knock_

"Emmy?" Wayne pokes his head from behind the door into his daughter's room. With her back facing him, Emily blinks aimlessly at the wall in front of her as she lays on her bed.

"Your friends just came to the door asking for you...I told them that you needed rest and you'll talk to them later." He informs Emily still standing by the door.

 _Silence._

"Emily?" Wayne comes from behind the door and walks over to Emily's side of the bed to check if Emily is asleep. Hearing her father's footsteps getting closer, Emily shuts her eyes to avoid any conversation that might transpire between the two. Seeing that she is indeed sleeping, the father silently sighs before letting himself out of the room.

Once hearing the door close, Emily opens her eyes again only to be gazing at the same yellow stained walls.

 _Buzzzzz. Buzzzzzz. Buzzzzz. Buzzzzzz._

Emily's phone vibrates on the night stand across from her. Slightly annoyed at whoever is trying to contact her, she reaches over and silences it, not caring to look who it is.

She tosses her phone to the side as she goes back to her lying position facing the wall.

 _This damn color needs to go._  
...

As the sun shines high in the sky and dwindles low to darkness, Emily's mattress transforms into memory foam with an indentation of where her body laid still but mind ran rampant. For the long hours, she was permitted to stay in her room until dinner came along. No matter what feelings were felt during the day, no one could skip dinner. Especially if Pam slaved in the kitchen. Shuffling down the stairs with shorts and an oversized shirt, Emily reluctantly joins her parents for dinner.

Spaghetti Carbonara with hot, juicy meatballs topped off with tomato sauce and a side of hot and chewy garlic bread. Served by the best hands inside the Fields' housing.

...

The sound of forks scooping along the plates, drinks behind gulped and sighs being exhaled, the family eats in the quietness of their dining room.

"You haven't touched your food, Em..." Pam breaks the silence noticing that her daughter's plate hasn't been touch. Neither has her silverware. Only her glass of orange juice.

Or what appears to be orange juice.

"I've just had a loss of appetite." Emily's eyes sagged at her plate while she keeps her hands tight around her glass.

A deep crease appears on Wayne's forehead as he carefully eyes over her, "What happened yesterday? You haven't mentioned a word about what happened up there."

Emily vaguely shakes her head in dismissal. "Nothing."

"Screaming, Alison sprinting down the stairs nearly knocking me over, doors slamming, glass breaking," Wayne counts on his fingers, "That's _far_ from nothing."

Emily avoids eye contact with both of her parents as she takes another sip of her "orange juice".

"Emily." He calls out in a serious, stern voice. Some kids can ignore their parents when being confronted, however, Emily's household doesn't allow that. Wayne would never run his house like a boot camp, especially with a daughter, but he won't tolerate any kind of disrespect.

"Yes?" she sighs out.

"What happened up there?"

Emily lets out a long breath, reenacting the entire scene in her head for the thousandth time today.

" **Alison, please!"**

" **Emily, I have to go."**

" **No." Emily viciously shakes her head with her tears blurring her sight. "Nononono." She sniffles, "You don't get to leave. You always leave me."**

" **Emily…" She now uses all her force to pry out of Emily's stronger hands. "Emily, let me go!"**

" **Just answer me!" Emily yells out.**

"Things just got heated, I guess." Emily slumps back into her chair not wanting to dig into this conversation.

"You guess?-" Wayne is interrupted by a sudden knock at the door. Being saved by the bell, or knock, Emily quickly uses this disruption as her escape from dinner.

"Can I go to my room, please?" she whispers to her mom across from her. "I _really_ don't want to do this." After a brief moment, Pam gives a sad nod, allowing Emily to excuse herself from the table, put her plate in the fridge and jog up the stairs with her cup and orange juice carton.

…..

 _And that's where she stays._

 _In her room._

 _With her glass._

 _And orange juice._

 _With an accompanying extra shot of flavor under her bed._

 _That's where she stays._

…..

Monday slowly makes its debut for the week and the three girls are sitting outside at their usual table spot before school. Having a small conversation to pass the time, they anxiously wait for Emily to join them. Not seeing one of the four for more than 24 hours is unnatural unless they are out of town. However, being ignored definitely had their ears up in curiosity. Especially Hanna. Hanna would never expect Emily to shut her out.

"It scares me out how A hasn't been found yet." Hanna shrugs her down body. "It's been two weeks and the cops have nothing. This creep is still walking around, waiting to pounce on us again at any given moment."

Aria tries to comfort Hanna to ease her nerves a bit. "But the cops are here to protect us. They follow us everywhere we go and are camped out in our yards all day. A can't possibly come in contact with us with all that security,"

"Not entirely," Spencer shakes her head in disagreement. "Yesterday, I was sitting at my window watching the cops switch shifts. For the last switch before I fell asleep, there was a ten minute gap between the time the first squad car left and the other one showed up." Spencer looks between Hanna and Aria. " _Ten minutes._ Do you know what could happen in ten minutes?"

"Yes, Spencer." Aria exasperatingly rebuttals, "We've all seen _Prom Night_ and we're not trying to recreate that movie."

"All I'm saying is that we have to learn how to protect ourselves. We can't rely on police to protect us all the time."

After a few more moments of "A" talk, Emily emerges from the bike rack and walks over to the table; stealing looks from everyone. Sitting beside Hanna, she takes off her backpack from behind her and rummages through it, looking for something.

The girls continue to gawk at Emily with wide eyes, having _no idea_ what to say to her.

Aria looks to Spencer who looks back at Aria who looks at Emily who is being looked by Hanna who looks at Spencer who confusedly shrugs and looks back at Emily who is oblivious to all the back and forth looks who gets a look from a student walking by who does a double take at Emily.

"Hey…Em…" Aria hesitantly greets, trying to start a conversation.

"Hey…" Emily sighs out as she pulls her textbook out of her bag.

Spencer takes over seeing that Aria is still in small shock to continue. "Is-is everything ok? With you last weekend?"

"Yeah, I've just been really tired. I needed time to myself."

Spencer slowly nods, carefully gazing over her friend.

Noticing the eerie silence coming from the table, Emily pulls her head up, moving her red hair out of her face.

She is received by everyone staring at her.

" _What_?"

"Your hair…It's…different." Aria tries to sound positive but can't stop looking at Emily's hair as if it was a bad car wreck that you gawk at while you're slowly driving past. "You...you're...you're uhmm….."

"You're a redhead!" Hanna impatiently fills in for the stammering Aria. "We left you a brunette and you came back a redhead!"

Emily squints and raises an apprehensive eyebrow at Hanna. "So you can have a hair change but I can't?"

Hanna grabs a hold the ends of her hair, "All I did was cut and dye my ends. You went full ginger on us."

Emily rolls her eyes, "Its dark copper. I think it looks just fine."

"Not only that but _Emily_...you _do_ look different." Spencer states as she has been observing the new redhead's body language and overall look. "Your eyes are droopy and irritated, your skin is paler, your mouth is hanging...you look tired." The other girls look at Emily more thoroughly after hearing Spencer observation, realizing that she's right. "You said you needed rest but it looks like you got everything but."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Emily disinterestedly dismisses Spencer's examination.

Spencer pushes on. "When was the last time you slept?"

"Last night." Emily crosses her arms as she narrows her eyes at Spencer.

"You're lying."

"How would you know?"

"Because I once _had_ your face." Spencer leans forward towards Emily, "It looks like you're not only sleeping but not eating neither. Your face looks sunken and-"

Emily scrambles to grab her bag, books and rises to her feet, "Ok, I didn't come here to be interrogated by Inspector gadget and her trusty sidekicks." She annoyingly spits out.

"Emily..." Aria hurtfully calls out.

"I'm going to class." Emily leaves the three as Hanna hopelessly watches her walk away. She knows her friend is hurting and wishes she can help but she knows, of all people, you can't help someone who doesn't want it.

...

Not only getting looks from her friends, other students and teachers, Emily blearily gets through the school day. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, Spencer is right. Ever since her run in with Alison Friday afternoon, Emily has hardly eaten and hasn't really gotten any sleep. If you consider munching on crackers eating and napping for an hour at a time sleeping, that was Emily's weekend. Biking her way back to her house, Emily hastily hops off her bike and leaves it tossed on the grass as she walks to her front steps. While she staggers towards her door, she notices a black car in her driveway.

That could only mean one thing.

"Hey, Emily." Pam greets her daughter as she, Wayne, and Detective Tanner sit in the living room.

Emily slowly walks in the direction of the adults confused at what's happening? _Why is Tanner here? Do they have new information? Did they find Charles?_

"Emily…Almost didn't recognize you there. Nice hair color." Tanner welcomes Emily.

"Thanks" Emily mutters back in response. Pam gestures Emily to sit beside her but Emily crosses her arms and stands instead. "What's going on here?"

"Well, I promised your parents for a constant update on our investigation and I'm just here to inform you all-"

"Did you find him? Did you out who did this?" Emily blatantly cuts the wrap around and goes straight to the point.

Tanner sympathetically shakes her head, "No. No we haven't but I can assure you my team and I are working in overtime to figure out who did. In the meantime we are going to continue to have our officers outside and escorting you girls everywhere you go."

"Do you think that's all we need to protect ourselves? You have some freaking lunatic running out there and you assign some parking ticket rookies who play Candy Crush while they become bored watching over a house?"

"Emily," Pam speaks up, not appreciating her daughter's tone.

"This _psycho_ kidnapped us while being ushered to a jail! Under _your_ watch!" She jabs her finger at Tanner, "If they can take us away while being under a _federal_ escort, what makes you think they can't just _sneak_ in here and do it again?!"

"Emily!" Pam rises to her feet but Tanner puts a hand out, signally that she has the situation handled.

" _Yes_ , those things happened under our care and we are taking the extra precautions to make sure nothing like that ever happens again." Tanner takes a step in front of Emily and looks her into her eyes, "You have my word."

"Your word doesn't mean _shit_ to me." Within that beat, Emily turns around and paces in the direction of the stairs to her room, leaving her parents dumbfounded and blindsided.

"I am _so_ sorry, Detective Tanner." Pam rushes out an apology after she comes out of astonishment of hearing Emily curse at an adult like that. "I don't know what has gotten into her lately."

Tanner understandingly nods, not taking the redhead's words to heart. "This behavior is predictable and I don't blame her. However, my word still stands. Emily and the other girls will be protected."

…

Walking past the local stores, enjoying the air, Alison approaches a field of little kids playing a game of soccer. One of the children kicks the ball too hard and it speeds out of the field, across the street and into Alison's path which she stops with her feet.

"Hey, lady." Lorenzo waves down Alison as he jogs across the street. "Can we get our ball back?"

Alison uses the inside of her foot to kick the ball back into Lorenzo's direction. Catching the ball with his feet, Lorenzo turns around and punts the ball back to a waiting kid on the field. "Nice kick." Lorenzo compliments Alison as he jogs up to her on the sidewalk, "You got great control."

"Thank you." Alison gives a closed lipped smile. Lorenzo smiles back creating an awkward silence between the two for a few moments, "Are those boys all from church?" Alison points to the kids to keep the conversation going.

Lorenzo looks behind him to the boys and shakes his head, "Not all. It's a church program, but any kid can join."

"Where are the girls?"

"Um…Co-ed…doesn't work well at this age. They're starting to notice certain distinctions." He raises his eyebrows in a knowing matter.

Alison lightly chuckles, "So the girls lose out? That's not fair."

"Oh, we had a group for girls but, uh, they lost their youth leader. Can't have a program without proper supervision."

"That's too bad." Alison nods her head and proceeds to continue onto her walk.

"Would you like to volunteer?" Lorenzo rushes up to Alison, stopping her once again.

Alison narrows her eyes out in front of her before she slowly turns back to Lorenzo, "For what?"

"To run the girls' soccer program." Lorenzo smirks to himself as his eyes trail down Alison's body. "You've got the moves." Alison gives him a puzzled, unamused look before he gives her a look right back. "I'm talking about your kick."

Alison sweeps the floor with her eyes, unsure of such proposition. "I don't think that's a very good idea."

"Why not?"

"Being a leader of _girls_ …that hasn't worked out well for me."

"Maybe that's something you can talk to them about." Lorenzo continues with a slow smile creeping, not allowing Alison off the hook.

Alison's face turns serious as she takes a step closer to Lorenzo, "There are mothers in this town who wouldn't appreciate me supervising their daughters." She responds back in a more grim tone.

Lorenzo's eyes doesn't leave Alison's as he continues to smirk, his voice lowering persuadably. "Why don't you let me worry about them?"

Alison smiles as she cocks her head at the persisting rookie cop/soccer coach. "You don't take no for an answer, do you?"

"Not if it can be avoided, no."

Alison smiles as she shakes her head, looking out into the street. Seeing a girl riding a bike in the distance, Alison focuses her sights on her. Wearing shades, from the looks of it, it looked like Emily, however, she noticed the red/orange hair shimmering in the sun and dismissed her thoughts. The girl turns the street corner before Alison and disappears out of her sight. She turns back to Lorenzo who is still awaiting an answer.

"Well?"

…

 _BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_

 _CLICK! CLACK!_

Emptying her first clip, Emily breathes in as she adds more rounds to her magazine. Reloading her .22 Smith and Wesson pistol, she extends her arms in front of her as she focuses on the target about 10-15 feet before her: A masked, hoodie bandit.

Not being phased by the kickback, Emily blasts through her clip, piercing the target all over in the chest, stomach and arms region. The shots of her pistol rings throughout the entire shooting range as Emily practices by herself. As she goes through her rounds, she feels her anger rising up again, thinking of everything she went through with this entire "A" debacle.

 _BANG!_

 _BANG!_

 _BANG!_

 _BANG!_

Emily uses her last bullet as a head-shot, hitting the bandit square between the eyes. She continues to pull back the trigger, although it spits nothing out in return, she keeps squeezing.

 _Click_

She keeps squeezing.

 _Click_

Keeps squeezing.

 _Click_

Squeezing.

 _Click. Click. Click. Click. Click._

"That means the gun is out of ammo." A man places his hand on Emily's shoulder which causes her to jump a little.

"Oh! Didn't mean to scare ya!" Jimmy apologizes with his hands up. Emily quickly rips off her ear guards, trying to understand what he had said.

"The gun…" He points to Emily's pistol, "When it clicks like that it means it's out of ammo."

"Oh," Emily clicks the gun safety on and places it down in front of her. "I just thought it got jammed." She forces out a laugh as she lies.

"Those bad boys are pretty equipped. Just like you! Goodness gracious, Emily!" Jimmy tilts his baseball cap forward as looks at Emily up and down in amazement. "I remember you coming here with your dad when you were younger, watching him teach you the right way to shoot these things. Boy, he surely did a great job." Jimmy walks over to a switch that brings her target to her, still in amazement.

"Thanks," Emily gives a forced smile, "Just testing the waters. I am a bit drained but I know I can do better next time."

"For a test, you did good." Jimmy unhooks the target paper and hands it to Emily, "Is Pam or Wayne coming?"

"No… Just me by myself." She observes at her target, avoiding Jimmy's eyes, "Uhmm… How much would it be for a permit to carry?"

"Well, if you are asking on the behalf of yourself, you won't be able to."

"Why?" Emily drops her target, looking at Jimmy.

"Because you have to be at least 21 years old to carry in the state of Pennsylvania." Jimmy shoves his hands in his front pockets, "If this was somewhere like Alabama, the age would be lower but since we are more up north…21 is the lucky number."

Emily looks down as she mentally curses herself before she raises her head back at Jimmy with concerned eyes. "I would like to stay under customer confidently, please. I don't want no one to know I was here." She shakes her head, "Not even my parents."

"Don't worry." He nods his head. "Nobody will never know."

…

Lying to her parents saying she's going over Hanna's, Emily returns home to find her mother in the kitchen.

"Hey. How was Hanna's?" She asks as she digs in one of the lower cabinets.

 _Luckily I moved the bottle from that cabinet or else I would be so dead right now._ "It was fine." Emily lies as she leans her groggy body over the island counter.

"Well I hope it gave you a chance to simmer down after the stunt you just pulled a few hours ago."

"About that…" Emily props her head up with her hand, "I'm sorry, mom. It's just that with everything that happened, I just feel like protection is the big necessity in this picture. I don't want what happened to happen again."

With her heart breaking inside from hearing such words from her daughter, Pam walks over to Emily and places her hand in her hair, gently rubbing as Emily buries her face into the counter. "I understand, Em. I just wish you would talk to us. Anything you need help with we can help. I don't want you doing anything reckless to endanger yourself."

 _Hmmm…I wonder like what? Drinking, not eating or sleeping, sneaking out to the shooting range? Aw man, I wonder what else I could do to "endanger myself"._

"I'm not…" Emily lifts herself of the island and stretches, "But I'm going to head upstairs and take a nap." She yawns, "I've been barely hanging on today."

…..

Opening her bedroom door, Emily throws herself face first into the bed, leaving her feet hanging off the edge. Being so tired, Emily wonders why she won't allow herself to sleep a good 10 hours. She grabs her pillow and rests her head upon it, permitting herself to drift off into a coma like sleep.

" **Emily…" She now uses all her force to pry out of Emily's stronger hands. "Emily, let me go!"**

" **Just answer me!" Emily yells out. The seriousness of Emily's anger begins to frighten Alison as she stays quiet, still struggling in the grasps of the brunette.**

" **FUCK, ALI! JUST FUCKING ANSWER ME!" She angrily shakes Alison's head again, shouting out in such loudness that's probably alerting every person in ear-shot distance.**

" _ **NO**_ **!" Alison uses all the energy she has to shove Emily out of her face, causing the brunette to stumble back.**

" _ **I**_ _ **can't!**_ **" she shakes her head, "I can't do this!"**

 _Oh._ Emily opens her eyes to face her yellow stained wall. _That's why._

 **As you may know, heartache is one of the worst feelings a person could feel. So many things could go wrong within you if you let it consume you. Some people have even died of a "** _ **broken heart".**_

 **Sleep deprived.**

 **Lack of food consumption.**

 **Impulsiveness as in dying your hair**

 **Or planning to own a gun**

 **All fall under what happens when you go through such emotion.**

 **Is Emily going to confront her feelings and do something to move on from it?**

 **Ooooooooooor**

 **Is there going to be another reckless decision?**

 **Maybe Emily will take up on that "** _ **Ink**_ **" offer she was thinking of getting a few days ago?**

 ***** _ **Shrugs**_ *** Who knows?**

 **What is going on between Alison and Lorenzo?**

 **Will we be seeing more and more of him?**

 ***** _ **Shrugs**_ *** Who knows?**

 **Do you know?**


	4. Chapter 4: On A Whim

**Hmmm…The new hair color is definitely a change from the brown hair you guys are used to seeing. I'm telling ya, sometimes you get tired of the same ol' same ol' when you're trying to….reinvent yourself. It's a good blend to look nice but can throw off the people that know you, for sure.**

 **If you watched the latest new episode, 6x05, the tattoo artist Emily and*shudders* Sara went to had the** _ **EXACT**_ **the color I had in mind for Emily.**

 **So if you close your eyes and put that hair color on Emily and you got Em 2.0**

 **Special shoutout to, "I could ship that"! Happy late birthday, babes!**

CHAPTER #4: On A Whim

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

As another week passes by, Emily's physical appearance continues to slowly deteriate. Even with the application of makeup, you can visibly notice her glasy-like hanging eyes, permanent furrowed brows, fine lines and her hollow/sunken cheeks starting to become evident. Taking power cat naps here and there and eating snacks to keep her stomach from devouring itself, Emily realizes she's letting herself go.

But doesn't realize _how much_ she is.

Late at night, sitting with her back against her bed's headrest, Emily browses through some local listings for anything that she can work with.

" _I have a KAHR CW40 in like new condition. The gun comes with two clips, the standard 6 round and the extended 7 round. Both are original KAHR clips. Gun only has about 500 rounds through it and has been cleaned after every shooting. I purchased for my wife and as an extra concealed carry, but she is ready to move up to a larger gun."_

Knowing that her father has available weapons up in the attic, Emily wants to avoid using any of his because of what exactly it is.

Her father's guns.

If he happened to go into the safe and chooses one to go shooting with, he'll notice one is missing and that'll start a storm of questions. So, instead, Emily is searching for her own. When it comes down to hiding it, she'll place it in the back of the safe so it'll blend in with the rest. If not there, she'll find another hiding location.

 _Yeah…that'll work. Besides, there are many people walking around with unlicensed weapons. As long as they don't get found out, nobody has to know._

" _Sig Sauer P238 Nitron .380 ACP w/ tons of extras:  
\- 2 mags (standard 6 rd & X-grp 7 rd)  
\- hybrid IWB holster (Crossbreed style)  
\- 100 rds 95 gr Remington UMC target rounds  
\- 20 rds Sig Sauer Elite Performance Self Defense Rounds_

Total retail value over $800, asking $350/will negotiate

 _Region: Rosewood_

 _Contact: Please [click here] to contact the creator of this listing."_

Emily sucks in her bottom lip as she ponders on the entry she came across. Her eyes scan across the extra accessories being offered.

 _Hybrid IWB holster (Crossbreed style)_

Not knowing that much about guns in general, she copies and pastes the holster into google to see what it looks like.

 _This holster goes inside the pants, hooked on by the belt of the jeans._ She silently nods to herself in approval. She needed something small she can carry but not be seen and this holster seems like it will be able to do just that. After a few more minutes of looking around for better options, Emily returns to the seller and clicks their information bar to get their contact number.

…..

Putting her hair into a high ponytail, Emily wears an outfit consisting of cameo cuffed skinny jeans, a white graphic tank, and white converses with a red and blue plaid button up wrapped around her hip. Making a last look in the mirror, Emily approves of herself and jogs down the stairs to head out.

"Where are you off to?" Wayne stops her at the door.

"Going with Spencer…" She makes up on the fly, "Spencer and I have an assignment to do in History and we have to go to the library for extra references. Teacher's orders."

Wayne slowly nods his head as he moves himself away from the door. "Make sure you constantly text us while you're out. I don't want you out for too long."

"I won't" She kisses her dad on the cheek and walks out the door. "Bye."

…..

Parking her car in front of a shop in the Rosewood's Town Center, Emily strides inside while a patrol car parks a good distance from her.

"Welcome to _Tickle Me, Ink_!" A female employee's dense New York accent greets Emily as she walks in from the back hallway holding a box, "Where our ink will probably last longer than your marriage. How can I help you today? Piercing? Tatt?"

"Tattoo." Emily walks up to the front desk. "I think I have a design I want to do."

"You think?" The worker crosses her arms, raising an amused eyebrow.

"I know" Emily quickly corrects herself. "I know the design I want to get done."

" _Do you_?"

"Yes."

The girl walks to the front of the desk and stands in front of Emily still with her arms crossed. "Are you sure?"

Emily tilts her head to the side as she squints at the employee. Standing at about the same height, the sun kissed girl is draped in tattoos: Two full sleeves, ink on both hands, and lightly on the right side of her neck. With her jet black hair pulled back into two long French braids, she stands before Emily in a black bandage crop top, bandanna squares sweatpants with one leg rolled up and black high top Adidas. Looking about 21, Emily crosses her arms as well. "Why are you questioning me?"

"I'm just asking." She laughs with a husky voice. "By the looks of it…" She eyes Emily up and down. "You look like a first timer."

Emily irritatingly rolls her eyes, not up for the badgering. "If you can't do the simple job, I'll find someone else who can."

" _Hey_." The worker stops Emily from walking out the shop. "I didn't say I _wasn't_ gonna do it. I'm just making sure that this is for sure what you want."

"Why wouldn't it be?" Emily defensively retorts back.

"Don't be offended." She raises both her hands in a surrendering gesture, "I double check with all my customers. Some people come in for tattoos because of a break up or lost job or whatever detrimental case it may be. I'm just making sure you're not walking in there to get a tatt that you _probably_ will cry about later."

Emily crinkles her eyes at the girl, "And what makes you think that I fall under any of those categories?"

"Well…" She casually leans her back against the front desk, "You look like a newbie. Now normally new comers, especially girls, come with at least one other friend. You know, to hold their hand. And you look like a good girl," She bounces from side to side, "probably fresh out of high school."

"Well I am a " _newbie_ "," Emily softens her face, "But I don't need anyone to hold my hand. I just want to get it done."

"I like your hair color, by the way." She nods her head, indicating Emily's look, "It goes well with you."

"Thanks." Emily unconsciously touches her hair as she looks down, "My friends don't seem to like it though."

"Oh, that's not your natural hair color?"

Emily shakes her head. "I had brown hair."

"Well there is another thing to add to my list!" The employee throws her hand up chuckling. "You dyed your hair. And not just _any_ color. You go from brown to this hot red-orange. Something too _fiery_ for Rosewood's taste."

Emily breathes in a deep breath as she puts up her defenses again. "Well, you obviously don't appeal to Rosewood's taste _either_."

"Well look who graduated at the top of her class," The girl sarcastically smirks at the comeback, "No, I'm not from here. This parlor is my cousin's shop. I just come down to help on the weekends and such. Your people would burn me at the stake if I did live here." She informs Emily with comicality.

Standing there going back and forth with the tattoo artist, Emily can't help to take in her enunciations. "Your accent…" she flicks an eyebrow, "It's pretty thick. Where are you from? New Jersey?"

" _Hell_ no." The girl rolls her eyes as she makes a gagging face. "I'm from Brooklyn. Born and raised _but_ currently live about 20 minutes out in Philly."

"And you come all the way down here to Rosewood, a boring town, to help with this place."

"Looks like " _top of her class_ " strikes again." She peels back her lips to show a flashing smile, "But since you did come here, what exactly do you want?"

"Alright," Emily pulls out her phone, "Now it's fairly simple. I want a mending broken heart with a bandage formed in an infinity shape."

"Uh huh." The girl reaches into the front desk to grab a pencil and paper.

"And on the visible part of the bandage, I want the word, " _Alpas_ " etched into it."

"Alpas." She stops and turns to Emily, "What language is _alpas_?"

"Filipino. It means to be liberated, be free."

"How do you know it doesn't mean dumbass in Dutch?"

"I'm part Filipino. I know what it means" Emily gives her a tolerant smile.

"Okay, just checking." Her eyes went back to her paper as she continues her drafting, "How do you spell that?"

"A-l-p-a-s."

The tattoo artist does a quick small sketch on top of the desk counter of Emily's description of the tattoo to the best of her abilities.

"Like this?" She shows Emily the drawing.

"Yeah…" She trails off looking at the picture in its entirety, "But more detail on heart. It has to look like it's been ripped out and really stomped on. Like it's been through a lot."

She raises her eyebrow as she smirks once again, "I thought you said you didn't go through any heartbreak?"

"Can you just do me this fucking tattoo?" Emily impatiently responds back with a little more venom then intended.

"Mmm." The artist makes a clicking sound in the side of her cheek, "You got a mouth on you. What else you got?" She bites on the end of her pen, tickled.

"I have the money for you to stop _bullshitting_ and give me what I want."

The girl pouts her lips as she nods, going back to her drawing. She stands there for a few moments as adds more trauma to the heart and shows Emily the finished product product. "How about something along the lines of this?"

Emily expression cooled ten degrees as she begins to calm herself. She doesn't know this person and has no right to explode on her. Even if she's messing around. "Yeah… Yeah, that's perfect."

"This size looks about right?"

"Well, yeah. Maybe a little smaller. I want to get it right here." Emily moves her head to the side allowing the artist to trace her finger behind her ear region. Her touch causes Emily to wince a little because of her tender skin.

The worker grimaces as she looks at Emily's desired location, "That's gonna hurt like a _bitch._ You do know that, right?"

Emily nods, "Well that's where I want it."

"Alright." She takes her paper and behinds to slowly walk backwards, "I'm going to take this to my little lair and retrace this over some carbon paper and if you still want to go through with this, we'll finalize the paper work and get to inkin'."

"Sounds like a plan." Emily agrees. When the artist leaves, Emily walks over to the chairs placed in the entrance of the store and plops down on it. She sighs a heavy breath as she looks up at the tattoo designs hanged up on the black walls. Hearing the buzzer beside her ears and feeling the pain, Emily ponders if she's really going to go through with this.

…

"Okaaay." The artist appears back to the front of the shop with her original drawing, "So while I was back there, I was going through a lot of soul searching and I need to know…" She breaks for a second as slowly approaches Emily.. "I'm sorry, what's your name?"

"Emily. Yours?"

"I'm Aubrey." She puts her hand on her chest, "I need to know that this is exactly what you want and you've known that you wanted this for quite some time now."

"Why are we going through this _again_?" Emily quickly rises to her feet, not believing she's going through this again. "You hassle all your customers like this?"

"It's not hassling. It's because I don't think you really ready for it. Now, would I turn down a customer? _No_. Would I turn down a paycheck? _Hell no_. But I care about your…your welfare and I need to know that you're ready to permanently ink your skin, Emily." Her raspy voice calmly escapes her lips as she seriously tries to look for confirmation from the redhead.

"You don't need to worry about me." Emily creates space between the two by moving away from her, "All you need to do is your damn job."

"And my _job is_ to make sure that I help my customers first before I get trigger happy. I mean, I understand your frustration but I just have this feeling. This feeling that your coming here on a whim and aren't 100% about this."

"Fine," Emily snatches the drawing out of Aubrey's hand, making direct eye contact into her hazel eyes, "I'll fine someone else who'll do it." Emily marches out of the shop, pushing the door open with force.

…..

Knocking on Spencer's door, Alison waits to be greeted by the brunette; someone she hasn't seen in a while.

"Hey, Alison." Spencer hold open the door as Alison walks into the kitchen. "You've been ghost lately."

"I've just been…lying low." Alison responds as she pulls up a chair at Spencer's island. "I go for walks here and there but rather just stay in my house. Unless I'm going to church."

Spencer's eyebrows shot half way up her forehead, "Church?"

"Yes, Spencer." Alison gives her an exasperated look, tilting her head to the side. "Church."

Spencer hesitates to make a quick joke about Alison and church but dismissively shakes her head, "Have you talk to Emily lately?"

Alison tenses up as she straightens her posture. "Why do you ask?" she tries to relax her tone.

"Because something is definitely up with her. She's…" she shakes her hand out in front of her, "She's losing it. I don't know _how_ she's losing it but I can see it in her face." Spencer opens her fridge doors, " _She's losing it._ "

She leans forward, listening with her entire body "How is she _losing_ it?"

Spencer grabs her pre-made sandwich and takes a seat next to Alison. "While you were faking your death, a lot of shit went down as you should already know. Everyone went through their own demons but I had a mental breakdown. Went to Radley and everything. You know how people in look there? Like they're hopeless and their eyes are waiting for death?"

"Yeah…" Alison inventively nods.

"Emily looks like she's one slipper away from being a patient. She basically ignored us all last weekend and when we finally saw her at school, her eyes were baggy with this glazed over look, face is gaunt, extremely moody and not to mention it…she has orange _fucking_ hair." Spencer waves her hand in the air, "Or dark copper how she calls it."

Alison's eyes widen slightly as she trails off. Revisiting her conversation with Lorenzo, she remembers seeing a girl on a bike but immediately dismissed it once the hair color was visible. Hearing how Emily's appearance is withdrawing and listening to the concern in Spencer's tone, she begins to feel dejected within the pit of her stomach. She knew that she should have at least contacted Emily since their last visit but she felt that Emily needed her space. It's been a week since and already things are drastically changing within her. "Well, she can't be alone." Alison shakes her head, "Someone needs to stay with her. Make sure her head is on right before she decides to do something even more drastic."

"We can't" Spencer speaks through the side of her mouth as she chews on her sandwich. "She won't let none of us come and see her. If you go to her door, her parents wil tell you she can't be bothered. You call or text, she doesn't answer." She nudges Alison with her elbow, "You should talk to her. She listens to you."

Alison sighs as she shakes her head, her eyes drifting away from Spencer, "She won't…not this time."

…

Emily slowly grasp the black door handle and pulls open with a disappointed look painted on her face.

"Hey…" Aubrey softly greets Emily again from behind the front desk before she takes a drink from her water bottle.

"You're right..." Emily nods her head as she shoves her hands in her back pockets, sweeping the floor with her eyes. "You're right and I'm sorry for snapping on you." Aubrey leans back into her chair, allowing Emily to continue on. "I…I haven't slept as well in past recent days and it's affecting me mentally and physically."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Do you watch the news at all or is it really not your thing?" Emily carefully asks not trying to offend Aubrey.

"I'm well into my politics, yes. It might not _look_ like it" Aubrey looks down at herself, "But I am."

"You probably don't recognize me because of the hair but…I am Emily. Emily Fields, One of the four girls that were arrested than kidnapped for a month." Aubrey's bites on her lower lip as she nods her head, preventing herself from saying anything. "So you can say that you are right." Emily shrugs her shoulder as her face closed in thought, "I'm just a damaged girl who's trying to expand temporary feelings with permanent decisions."

"No." Aubrey gets out of her chair and walks over to Emily. "You're not a damaged girl. You're a girl that was put through extreme circumstances but guess what? _You're still here_." She whispers encouragingly as searches to meet Emily's eyes. "You might be fighting within yourself but you're still here, standing tall."

Emily's head hangs, "I'm not standing tall…"

"But you're standing, _right_?" Aubrey lifts Emily's head by her chin, "Right?" She gives her a warm smile. "Alpas, remember? You have to allow yourself, your heart, to be free."

Emily sadly looks into Aubrey's eyes as she silently nods her head.

"Besides, I was hoping that you would come back." She tilts her head up with a smirk, "I've been doing some thinking too. Have you ever heard of a Henna tattoo?"

Emily shakes her head.

"It's something ' _hipsters'_ all over the place are in love with." Aubrey rolls her eyes, chuckling. "Henna is a flowering plant. The dye prepared from the plant is used for the art of temporary tattooing. It was used for cosmetic purposes in Ancient Egypt as well as other parts of North Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and South Asia. Not only does it have a cultural custom over there, of course, big bad America took it for our selfish wants." Aubrey turns around towards the desk and reaches for her carbon paper drawing of Emily's heart. "What I was going to propose to you was that I'll do your design but with henna instead. _Therefore_ , you'll have the satisfaction of knowing it's not permanent if you do get tired of it. Think of it like a condom." Aubrey rocks back and forth on her heels, "You're a virgin and want to do the _do_ but want to be safe so you get a condom. You're doing it but can't really feel anything."

Emily cracks a genuine laugh, shaking her head in amusement at the tattoo artist.

"Woah, look at that." Aubrey points at Emily like a little child, "A _smile_. I don't think I've seen any of those since you've been in here."

Emily turns away with a shy grin. Feeling the rushing sensation in her cheeks, Emily realizes this is the first time she has smiled in a long time. Her face has been stuck with a frown for so long, she forgot how much her cheeks spread apart when she found something entertaining.

"What do you say? Are you going to kill me for substituting plant dye for ink?"

"No. It-It actually sounds like a good idea." She nods, "Sounds like a perfect idea."

"Perfect." The word rolls off of her bottom lip, smiling in success. "Now, we can start this paperwork, pay the cost, and I will happily take you the back to begin."

…..

An hour and half later after her visit back to the parlor, Emily pulls into her drive-way. She excitedly turns her head to the left to check out her new behind the ear design. Just how she envisioned it. An outline of a mending heart wrapped in an infinity bandage.

" **Wow! This looks…amazing. Better than how I pictured it." Emily gushes as she examines her tattoo a mirror being held up by Aubrey.**

" **You can say that I am magnificent," Aubrey twists her thumb and index finger into her check mocking the Italian gesture, "I am pretty badass at what I do." Aubrey hands the mirror to Emily while she takes off her gloves. "Henna looks different on everyone. Body chemistry, temperature and location on the body have a lot to do with how dark the stain will be." She explains, "Henna stains are darkest during the first 7-10 days, then gradually fade. I recommend for you to leave the paste on at least 5-6 hours or more. If you leave it on overnight, you'll get the best results. The longer the paste stays on the skin, the darker the stain will be. When you do remove the paste, _don't_ remove it with water. Use lemon juice or olive oil to remove the paste. Try not to get the area wet for at least 6-12 hours after paste removal although waiting a full 24 hours is best." Aubrey reaches into a cabinet drawer and searches for the care instruction paper. "The longer you prevent the area from getting wet with water, the better. Your design will be bright orange at first and then gradually darken to brown. Henna stains usually take 48 hours to develop. Here is how to take care of it." Aubrey hands the care instruction paper to Emily, "Everything you need is in there."**

" **Thanks," Emily appreciates as she examines over the paper.**

" _ **Buuuut**_ **it's missing one thing…" Aubrey grabs a pen and extends her hand out for the paper back, "May I?" Emily hands her the paper and the artist writes something underneath all the wording. "And…." She finishes her finishing touches and gives the paper back to Emily, "This is where you can reach me at. If you're ever ready for a real tattoo experience, if you need someone to talk to, or if you just want to yell at me some more." Aubrey smiles, "Give me a call."**

Emily looks at her design one more time before she takes down her ponytail to hide it. The last thing she needs is her parents playing a round of 21 questions each.

…..

"Why didn't you respond to my text?" The first words that come out of Pam upon seeing her daughter in the house.

"You texted me?" Emily raises an eyebrow as she pulls out her phone to check any unopened messages.

"Yes. Your father and I have to run really quick and I need you to drop off the hedge trimmer at the DiLaurentis' house." Emily's face instantly hardens as a cleft formed between her eyebrows, Pam continuing on as she searches for her keys, "Kenneth let your father borrow it and I need you to do us the favor to return it." Before Emily can open her mouth to defiantly protest, Pam cuts her off with a hug as she rushes out the door, "We'll be right back. If you need anything just call." And with that instant, the front door opens and closes with a disordered Emily left by herself.

 _There is no way in HELL I'm going over there._

 _FUCK no._

...

Pulled up to Alison's house, Emily silently curses herself as she pulls the hedge trimmer out of the back of her car.

 _Why the hell do I have to return it?_

 _Why couldn't dad do it earlier?_

 _Why the hell did they even borrow this?!_

 _Who even does the hedges?!_

Lugging the equipment over her shoulders, Emily resentfully walks up Alison's front steps, onto her porch and to her front door.

 _I should just leave it right here and walk away._

 _I shouldn't even knock at the door._

 _Maybe Mr. D will answer the door and I won't even see Alison._

 _She won't answer the door, nobody is coming here for her._

 _Ugh._

 _Damnit._

 _Ding! Dong!_

Emily impatiently waits as she observes her environment, spotting a patrol car sitting not too far.

 _Fuck! I should have just gave it to the cops to give to them!_

 _Fuckfuckfuckfuck._

The door slowly opens to the blonde resident standing behind it. Emily does everything in her power to not roll her eyes in irritation.

"My parents wanted me to return this to your dad." Emily annoyingly grits through her teeth, not making any kind of eye contact with Alison.

Alison takes in Emily's new look, exactly as Spencer had put it. Gaunt, baggy eyes, and the hair. Before Alison could say anything, Lorenzo comes up behind her to see who stood at the door.

Recognizing the cop from being the same guy Alison was talking to at the brew and at the field with the little kids, Emily's muscles drew the skin around her eyes tight as she sees Lorenzo adjusting his collar. "What the _hell_?" She hissed out as she takes the tool off her shoulder. "What the hell is he doing in there?"

"Emily, stop." Alison softly begs as she sees Emily and the anger building up within her as she locks her sights on Lorenzo.

"No I, uh, was just doing my daily sweep inside the house." Lorenzo walks from behind Alison, "And now I'm going back to the cruiser." He nods his head at Emily as he forces out a smile, "Nice to meet you, Emily." Saying nothing back to him, Emily watches Lorenzo parade his way down the porch steps and towards the police car. She turns back to Alison who is holding her left arm with her hand in uneasiness.

"Thanks for bringing back th-"

"Wait a second...you were in there alone with him?"

"No. He was jus-"

"How convenient." Emily bitterly cuts her off, "Sneaking in the boy when nobodies home, huh?"

"Em-"

"You're fucking the help, Ali?" Emily grimaced with one eye as she points in the direction of Lorenzo. She unbelieving shakes her head as she laughs, unable to stand still. "Ugh, I know times are hard but you don't have to go _desperate_." She gradually stops laughing to look at Alison, her face anxious and embarrassed. Emily tilts her head to the side in seriousness. "Wait...You're fucking the help?!" She raises her voice to the tone of suspicion as her eyes narrow.

"No! I am not." Alison tries to convey in a strong tone but comes out a quiver.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." Emily carelessly throws down the hedge trimmer onto Alison's patio not caring about the potential damage she has caused to it. "Have your boyfriend fix that shit for you." Emily hastily turns around and quickly paces herself away from Alison as she feels her anger beginning to rise again. She swings open her door, hops in the driver's seat and slam the door shut as she starts her car. Putting her car in gear and driving her way away from the house, Emily bypasses the assigned police car.

Making direct eye contact with Lorenzo who returns a softer, innocent look back only enrages Emily more heading out into the street.

"Ok," Emily pouts to herself with a nod, "Ok, Alison."

 **Someone turn up the furnace because it's about to get hot in here.**

 **And not in a good way.**

 **Still on board for this ride?**

 **I found the whole Emily tattoo on the show sooo funny because it came in perfect timing with the story. Although, I didn't want Emily to get one just because of _Sara_. Emily was just bothering me so much in that episode because of SARA. Ugh, that girl needs run herself back to her mother and stay there. She needs to get off my TV honestly. **

**And Ali's and Lorenzo's kiss! I saw it coming and it sickens me. IDK what Marlene is doing but she needs to be _stopped_.**

 **Anyways, in other news, in a fandom you have Gif Makers, RP players, Fanfiction Writers, Fanfiction Readers, and FanEdit Creators. Under FanEdit Creators, its split between people who draw, edit photos, and edit videos.**

 **I, myself, am not only a Fanfic Writer/Reader, but I also do FanEdits as well.**

 **Well…the video kind.**

 **So, messing around on my editing software, I decided to do some kind of FanEdit for my own work. I know some people like to draw pictures of their favorite FFs and whatnot and I decided to see if I could do some kind of edit, an...advert for a lack of a better word, of this fic. Kinda like an overview of everything that has happened that caused Emily & Alison huge rift. Video explains begining, fic finishes off the story**

 **Why not, right?**

 **Soooo, if you want to watch it, it's a pretty simple video of an angsty Emison I created within a good hour or so. Well semi-angsty because of PLL limitations of course. You can go to my profile and the link will provided. It should lead you into a Google Drive folder which holds the video :) If you imagine Emily as this Emily in the story, hopefully it'll translate well :D**

 **If you do have time to check out the video, please please** _ **please**_ **tell me your opinion on it.**

 **Cinematography is seriously my passion in life :D**

 **Anyways! Fav, follow and Review my loves!**


	5. Chapter 5: Heat Escalation

**Don't fret, my readers! Emily's hair is** _ **temporary**_ **. You have to understand that when you go through certain emotions that are more on the negative side, you'll do** _ **a lo**_ **t to try to erase anything that'll remind you of it. People looking in won't understand the actions but it's a mental battle within one's self. However, it's merely just a phase. Like Aria when she had pink highlights. Emily's bouncy, brunette hair will make its comeback soon! :)**

 **To Both Guests Who Referred To How Long This Fic Would Be: I would like to say that this fic will be pretty set chapter wise. However, I'm still mapping out what direction I want certain things to go. When I said this was going to be an angst story,** _ **I meant it.**_ **There is no holding back. So, if you want to "Netflix Binge" this, I suggest you let the chapters pile up! :) These chapters are pretty long, so far with** _ **at least**_ **4,000 words each so you'll be well off. Fiction Binge!**

 **To Reviewers Who Referred To Lorenzo: I don't like Lorenzo.** _ **At all.**_ **However, he is just a tiny piece of detail of this big mural. He's strictly here for the push of a turbulent Emison. After he's all used up for my likings, he will be tossed like a Kleenex. BUT I am very curious what the heck his whole position in this entire show is. What was the position of most of the temporary characters?! Why is Clark being introduced? Why can't Emily just drop Sara off at a bus stop with a few dollars and a lollipop? Why do I sense something between Spencer and Dean? Why was Talia even added? I guess MK wants every girl to have some type of relation with an older person for…? Something…? Spencer and Aria are well developed in that field so let's make Emily become involved with a** _ **married woman.**_ **But the age of consent is PA is 16 soooooooooo I guess she's** _ **really**_ **cashing off that -.-**

 **To Guest Who Referred To Emily Staying In Character: I totally understand your plight. I, too, sometimes leave fics with my faves that are OOC. But I don't think you have to worry that much about Emily being OOC. I would like to believe I'm pretty decent with keeping people in character. Of course, there will be different sides that will be awakened within her. Things that would be awakened within anyone going through not just heartbreak but what the girls went through in general. However, Emily will be Emily. That heart on her sleeve, protective but also strong-willed Emily will be shown throughout the story. But, sometimes, you have to go through the commotion of a storm to appreciate the rainbow afterwards :) I hope I can keep all of you on board!**

 **To Mlfleishman: Don't you worry. It's definitely not going to be a one way street. That's all I can say ;)**

 **Wow, this Q &A was longer than I thought, haha. Well, onto the story, my children!**

CHAPTER #5: Heat Escalation

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"You look different the last time I saw you. Your hair…It looks beautiful on you."

"Thanks."

"What made you want to dye your hair?"

"I wanted something different. This is different."

"Do you plan on keeping it up or is this just a temporary look?"

Emily lets out a deep sigh as she shrugs, scratching her forehead. "I don't know." She rolls her eyes.

Dr. Sullivan nods as she crosses her ankles, examining over Emily in front of her. "How are you feeling as of lately?"

"Fine. _Perfectly_ _fine_." Emily firmly responds, looking up at the therapist, "I don't need medication if that's your end goal."

"Emily…" Sullivan gives a light smile "If anything, I _don't_ want to prescribe to you medications. That's not the reason we are here. We're here as a safe space. Where you can talk about anything."

Emily leans back into the couch as she nods her head with a mocking tone, "Sure it is…"

…

Leaving Dr. Sullivan's office in the middle of the afternoon, Emily walks the town in the direction of her house. Although she's walking to clear her mind, nothing in her head is being emptied. Just more confusion.

 _After everything we went through, EVERYTHING, she's going to hook up with a cop? So that's why she was so quiet before. Because she was with him. How could I not see that earlier? But why? He doesn't care about her. I do everything I can for her and she can't even reciprocate it? Not even a little? No, because I'm nothing. She doesn't even care. She doesn't text me, call me, she doesn't even try to see me. At all. But a freaking cop? Out of everyone, a new cop? You know what? Maybe this is all in my head. Yeah. Maybe I'm just…jumping to conclusions. Maybe he's just doing his job and I'm imagining them together to make up for the lack of her presence. Yeah, he couldn't be with her. If he is, he's a fucking pedophile. But…but he's not. He's doing his job of protecting her from A. That's all he's doing._

As Emily is well into her thoughts, a car halts besides her on the sidewalk, "Emily!"

Shaken, Emily shots a glance at the driver to see that it's Hanna waving her to the car. Emily slowly trudges to Hanna's window. "Hey…"

"Get in the car. I'll drive you to wherever you need to be."

"No thanks," Emily shields her eyes from the sun, "I'd rather much walk."

"Get in the car anyway, Em. We need to talk." Hanna pushes on as she puts the car in park.

Emily sighs as she walks to the other side of the car into the passenger seat. As she adjusts herself into the chair, she avoids the eyes of Hanna who is staring at her.

"Ok, first off, where have you been? I haven't talked to you in like 80 years!"

"I just came out of Dr. Sullivan's office and I was going to walk home." Emily nonchalantly answer's Hanna's question even though she knows that's not exactly what she meant.

The blonde turns in her seat to face her passenger, "Emily-"

"What?" Emily responds with slight irritation in her voice

"Tell me what's going on! I'm worried about you."

"Why is everyone so worried about me?!" Emily throws her hands up defensively as her voice rises. "Why can't I have time to myself without everyone on my dick?!"

"Because we fucking are!" Hanna returns the loud tone before she calms herself down. The last thing she wants to do is fight Emily, have her running out of her car and not talking to her for another week. " _Look_ , I can understand you not wanting to talk to Spencer or Aria but _me_? I thought we were team Hannily? You know you can tell me anything, Em."

Leaning her head back into the headrest with her arms crossed, Emily sits in silence for a few moments before speaking up again, "Do you know of a cop that's supposed to be surveilling us? Black, short haircut, looks like he could be Jason's age?"

Hanna looks to the side as she ponders Emily's description, "The only black cop that I know of that is watching us is Lorenzo."

"Lorenzo?" Emily turns to face Hanna, "His name is Lorenzo?"

"Yeah. I've seen him a few times in and out of uniform."

"Does he patrol at your house?"

"Not too much. I've seen him at Spencer's with Toby a few times now. Toby said that he's apart of Rosewood PD's fresh perspective. I think he's Toby's partner or Toby is supposed to be watching over him or _something_." Hanna waves her hand in the air.

Emily relaxes herself as she had noticed her muscles were tensing at the sound of the name she final put a face to. _Ok…he's just doing his job. It's just his job._ Emily sighs out as she nods to herself. "Alright…"

"And I've also seen him at Ali's too. _Matter of fact_ , I just saw them together not too long ago." Hanna goes to explain, "He's actually really cool. One time when I went to The Brew, he had…" Hanna's voice fades away into the background as Emily makes a clicking sound in the side of her cheek, hearing exactly what she wanted to hear.

Exactly what she needed to hear.

She slowly nods her head as the muscles around her eyes tighten, proving her suspicions right.

"Alright, Han. I'll call you later." Emily suddenly swings opens the passenger door, not caring that she probably cut Hanna off mid story-telling. She shuts the door behind and starts walking away from the vehicle in the direction of Rosewood's town center.

Abruptly caught off guard, Hanna rolls down the passenger window and calls after her, "You better call me tonight, Emily Fields! _Or_ _else_!"

…

As Emily absentmindedly walks through the town center, she walks in the same direction of a fellow person coming the opposite way. Emily slightly tilts her head to the side with a squint as she begins to approach the girl.

"Hey, Filipino." Aubrey smiles at Emily through her sunglasses as she approaches her.

"Hey." Emily greets almost in a questionable tone, "What are you doing here? I thought you said you only come on the weekends?"

"I do," Aubrey puts her hand in her pockets as she looks around, "But, uhm, Mikey needed extra hands so I'm back here, _unfortunately_. How's your Henna looking?"

Emily lifts her hair to expose the black of her ear, the Henna nice and dark making the design perfect. "It came out just as amazing as when you did it." She puts her hair down and faces Aubrey again, "Thank you again."

"No problem! It looks very cute," Aubrey gushes, "Soooo, do you have time to talk? I'm on break and have time for a little bit, if you want."

Emily takes a few milliseconds of contemplation before she nods again, "Yeah, sure."

"Good!" Aubrey flashes a warm smile. She points to a business across from them on the opposite side of the street, "I was on my way to pick something up at the bakery shop. Walk with me?"

...

"Mhmmm..." Aubrey hums in pleasure as she bites into her fresh, hot and chewy jelly filled croissant. " _So good_." She looks up at Emily, sitting in front of her at a table outside. "You want to try some?"

"No, it's ok." Emily politely declines, "I'm not really hungry."

"Here." She digs into the paper bag to and gives Emily a butter croissant. "Take it."

"I'm fine, Aubrey."

Aubrey continues to hold out the croissant, not taking no for an answer. Although her eyes are hiding behind shades, Emily can probably guess she's staring straight into her. Emily sighs before she takes the bread and a napkin Aubrey handed her. As Aubrey goes back to eating her snack, Emily looks down at hers. Part of her didn't want it but part of grateful for Aubrey's push because she has been eating Ritz crackers and Nature Valley chewy bars for nearly the past week with a changeup of a sandwich here and there. It's not like she's starving herself, more like she's not hungry. All the time.

"You should always eat. _Especially_ , if someone offers free food. If the shoe was on the other foot and you were offering me something, I think I would of eaten it right out of your hand." She snickers at her own comment. "I just love food."

"It's just I'm not hungry, that's all. I had a really big breakfast." Emily forces a convincing chuckle.

"What did you have?" Aubrey questions as she opens her bottled water.

"Basic breakfast things," Emily shakes her head as she looks at the croissant. "Eggs, French toast, sausages, bacon...my mom kind of went all out."

"Kind of? I need to become friends with your mom and come over whenever she decides to cook. My breakfasts is a bowl of cereal. And that's _sometimes_."

As the two eat in silence, the song on the bakery shop's outside speakers lightly play a tune that Aubrey picks up on. She shakes her head as she chews on her baked goods, "I think Taylor Swift is haunting me."

"Haunting you?" Emily raises in eyebrow not knowing if that was a sarcastic statement or not. "How?"

"Everywhere I go, she's playing somewhere. Anywhere with a speaker and a radio, they're playing her. I've heard this song play about 100 times this week." Aubrey bows her head down and whispers, "It's like she's _everywhere_." She pretends to look around as if she's searching for someone.

"So then, what kind of music do you listen to?" Emily asks with her arms folded on the table.

"Well…the 80's hold a place in my heart," Aubrey places her hand over her chest, "But I like nearly all types, honestly. But I really like EDM and Indie music right now."

"EDM?"

"Electronic Dance Music. It has gotten _really_ popular over the past few years,"

"Ooooh. You mean like the song 'Turn down for what'?"

"God," Aubrey scrunches up her face in disgust, "I fucking hate that song. But yes. The reason I like it is because it's not just one sound. You have so many branches of different kind of music not just that club, repetitive shit they play on the radio."

"Branches like what?" Emily rips a small piece of the Croissant and puts it in her mouth.

"Ok," Aubrey adjusts her seat as she wipes her mouth with a napkin, "So there is a sub-genre for literally _any_ mood you're in. Do you want to lose yourself in nothing but crazy sounds and hard drops? You got Dubstep. Do you feel like you want to dance and break your neck? You have Hardstyle. You're feeling like you want to turn up to some hip hop? You have Trap. And that's just the more popular ones. While I listen to majority of them, I love, love, _loveeee_ the more relaxing part of the genre. They have Chillstep, Melodic Dubstep, Ambient…" She counts on her fingers, "Uhm-Lovestep. They have it _all_."

"Lovestep? What's that?"

"Lovestep is the more romantic, slowed side. Taking the same overall sound of vast sub-bass lines, drum patterns and putting them together with softer vocals. Chillstep are tracks with chill undertones. Low bass, slow beats, great kind of music to listen to when you're calm or trying to fall asleep. But _Melodic Dubstep_ ," Aubrey leans forward with excitement on her lips, "It's my favorite. It's a subgenre of dubstep that sounds exactly how it sounds. Rolling melodies, harmonious vocals mostly done by females and hooks ride on a bassline. It's the kind of music that will take you out of your element, away from your own personal shit show."

"Interesting…" Emily purses her lips as she rips another part of her bread, "Sound cool."

"I would love to show you some songs some time. Not just from EDM but music in general" Aubrey takes another sip from her water bottle, "You know, show you the finer things in life."

"I don't know when that'll be," Emily looks down at her fingers, "I have a lot going on with school and last minute things I have to do. It's just…" Emily shakes her head, "I probably won't have time."

"That's fine, I'll…I'll-I'll text it to you." Aubrey offers which makes Emily look up at her, raising her eyebrows in curiosity, "Everyday, I'll text you a song for you to listen to. Nothing crazy, just _soothing_ music. Some songs might be more uplifting than others while some might put you in a more…perspective mood. You can listen to it on your down time, while you're doing homework or whatever. Something to string your day along." She shrugs. "I promise you, you'll enjoy at least _one_ thing I'd send you," She lightly chuckles. "What do you say?"

With Emily's face pinched in concentration, she runs a finger along her jaw as she looks at the artist in front of her. "Okay." She nods, "We can do that."

…..

Finally making it back home from the long walk, Emily arrives at her empty house's front porch right before her phone buzzes with a WhatsApp message notification. Pulling her phone out of her pocket, Emily opens the brand new conversation with a little message.

 _Today 5:55pm_

 _Aubrey:_ [Song File].

 _Aubrey:_ Your first song: "Stakes" – Vancouver Sleep Clinic. A soft melody to give your ears the appreciation they deserve. I think the heart behind them might enjoy it too ;)

Emily shakes her head with a faint smile ruminating on her face. As Emily reaches for her house key, she naturally checks her surroundings when she sees someone walking down her street. Emily turns back to the door to unlock it but stands there in hesitation. _No…no, I'm not going to let this opportunity pass._ She turns back around and jogs down her porch into her walkway, "Alison!" Alison stops in her travels as she knows that if she keeps walking, things would get worse. She turns to face Emily who is walking towards her in a quick pace. "What? You're going to walk by someone and not say _hi_?"

Alison smirks at Emily. " _Hello, Emily_." Being more put together than their last meet, Alison knows she is not going to allow Emily to get the better half of her.

"Sooooo," Emily crosses her arms as she looks around, down the streets and up the sidewalks, "Where's _Lorenzo_?" She purposely enunciates his name with a mocking tone and a sneer. "Made you walk today? You would think that since you are screwing him, he'd at least give you a bike to ride around the neighborhood in."

Alison scoffs with a smile, "Well look at you," She looks at Emily up and down, "Give a bitch red hair dye and suddenly…she becomes _bold_."

"Ha!" Emily laughs as she runs her hand through the root of her hair, "You like? I felt like it was time for a change."

Alison puts her hand up in a stop gesture as she furs her brows in disproval, "If that's what you call ' _a change_ '. It looks pretty tacky on you."

"Of course my new look isn't up for Alison DiLaurentis's taste." Emily shakes her head in a sneer, "Maybe if I was a few shades darker with a short buzz cut, you'd be all over me."

"Don't fancy yourself. Only in that wild little brain of yours do you think something is going on between me and him."

"Save the dilution, Alison." Emily smile is replaced by narrowed eyes and a clenched jaw, "It's pretty fucking obvious when you go to answer the door and he's practically putting his clothes on behind you." She shakes her head in repulsion.

"Aww, what's wrong?" Alison steps to Emily with fake concern, "Are you getting upset? Getting mad that you have nothing to throw and break like you did my hedge trimmer?"

"Oh, I hope it did break." Emily quickly returns a rebuttal, "I hope it fell apart in your hands the moment you picked it up. Maybe you'd feel an ounce of how I felt the moment you ran out on me."

"You mean when you decided to act batshit crazy and fucking shake me like some ragdoll?" Alison cocked her head slightly to one side, "You mean to tell me that had heart behind it? That shit you pulled up there?"

"Yes! Yes, it did!" Emily begins to raise her voice as she steps closer to Alison, "Everything I've ever felt for you, all I ask is to show me something back and you run off. Like you always fucking do. You fucking run."

"You cornered me!" Alison spits back with aggression with her eyes piercing back with ire, "I'm not some child you stuff in a corner and demand things out of."

"But you are a child." Emily nods her head, " _You know_ , in Lorenzo's eyes."

Alison rolls her eyes at Emily's attempt to bring Lorenzo back into the conversation. "That hair dye must have seeped through your skin and killed off some valuable brain cells because you're being fucking delusional right now."

"Do you think he actually cares about you?" Emily sarcastically laughs, "The only reason why he's giving you any type of attention is because you're fragile, vulnerable and at this point, you're not the same Alison you once were. You're not the same Alison who took charge and bossed everyone around. You're a _sad_ _and brittle Alison_ that'll do anything for attention right now."

"I'm the sad and brittle one?" Alison holds her floor with a smirk and a hand on her chest, "I'm not the one running around here with my fucking hair like Lion-O from _Thundercats_. Looking as if I just came out of a _CDC Anti-Smoking_ campaign."

"Fuck you, Alison," Emily spits, making two black vertical lines between her eyes. She feels her body getting hot as well as being hurt by the remarks Alison is making about her appearance.

"What?" Alison fearlessly steps closer to Emily, limiting little space between them, "You can dish it but can't take it?"

"Why are you even talking to me?!" Emily suddenly begins to blow as she feels the rage spewing through her about to fully combust, "I profess my love for you-my love _to_ you and you run into the arms of Lorenzo?! Now you want to come over _here_ , _insult_ the way I look, discredit my intelligence to try to make me seem like I'm _crazy_ -" Emily stops herself mid-rant as she closes her eyes and clenches her jaw. Trying to regain her composure since she is out in public and not in the comforts of her own room, she breathes out with a low and demanding voice, "Get the fuck off my street."

"You don't own shit." Alison furs her brows in bewilderment at Emily's command. "This street, this sidewalk, none of it belongs to you." She steps in face to face with the visibly heated/hurt redhead, "I can walk _everywhere I want_ , _whenever_ I damn well please."

"FUCK YOU." Emily loses control as she shoves Alison out of her face, roaring loud enough to get her attention. Completely stunned, Alison staggers back at the force Emily used against her. "Fuck you!" Emily fails her arm at Alison's existence as the skin around her eyes drew tight in pent up aggression, "Fuck you and what I felt for you! Fuck everything about you because I fucking gave you everything and now I have fucking _NOTHING_!" Feeling her body boiling, Emily turns around as stomps back to her house. She notices the cops sitting in their cars at her sidewalk perking up in curiosity and throws up a hand to stop them from exiting the vehicle. Grabbing her house keys, Emily fumbles to put the key in the lock because of her shaky hands and narrowed vision. Finally getting it in, her whole body shakes with rage as she pushes through the door and slamming it shut behind her, not even looking back in Alison's direction.

Running up the stairs into her room, Emily shuts the door behind her, internally grateful that none of her parents are home so she has time to release. She stands in the middle of her bedroom as she tries to catch her breath, calming herself down. But she can't leave what just happened. She can't erase that she had a verbal fight with Alison outside in the street. She can't kill the thought of Alison blatantly lying to her. Blatantly trying to belittle her. Blatantly disparaging her feelings for her. Those notions alone, that realization, causes Emily to get upset all over again. Causes the anger huffs, the constriction of the throat, the stinging of the tears threatening to come down and the fidgeting of the body not knowing what to do.

She rips the t-shirt she was wearing off above her head because it's making her too hot.

Kicks the shoes off her feet because it's tightening, not allowing her to breathe.

She irately pulls down her shorts; too many layers on top of her, causing her to feel trapped.

Only left with her bra and boy shorts and still her body psychically hot, Emily swings open her bathroom door and turns on her shower. Stripped naked, the unsteady readhead jumps into the raining cool waters to simmer down her hot skin.

" **You mean when you decided to act batshit crazy and fucking shake me like some ragdoll?" Alison cocked her head slightly to one side, "You mean to tell me that had heart behind it? That shit you pulled up there?"**

To simmer down her hot emotions.

" **Yes! Yes it did!" Emily begins to raise her voice as she steps closer to Alison, "Everything I've ever felt for you, all I ask is to show me something back and you run off. Like you always fucking do. You fucking run."**

To simmer down the feeling of unacceptance and betrayal.

" **You cornered me!" Alison spits back with aggression with her eyes piercing back with ire, "I'm not some child you stuff in a corner and demand things out of."**

" **FUCK YOU. Fuck everything about you because I fucking gave you everything and now I have fucking NOTHING!"**

X

 **Well…that escalated quickly.**

 **The beginning of the end is officially now here.**

 **Whenever something happens to you, everyone has a stress response. It's when our brain chemistry goes on high alert, just as if our very life were threatened. No one can stop the initial response when it happens. You have 4 different reactions.**

 **Fight: You're going to kick some ass.**

 **Flight: You're going to haul ass.**

 **Freeze: You're going to hold onto your ass.**

 **Faint: You're going to fall on your ass.**

 **Each response is designed to protect you from harm, even if you don't want to react that way initially.**

 **Maybe some of you experience that "hot and shaky" sensation when you get angry. Why?** **It's a warning signal from your body to tell you that you are putting it under extreme pressure. Your adrenaline is kicking in and your blood is pumping at a much faster rate, therefore not allowing your system to cool down naturally. One of the first things that happens when you experience the feeling of anger is that your brain stimulates the adrenal glands, which sit on top of your kidneys, to release adrenaline. That signals the body to release fatty sugars, increasing your blood sugar. All this to make energy available to the body. It's that blood sugar that rose so rapidly falls just as fast, and that, combined with the leftover, unused adrenaline in your system, is what causes the shakes and weakness. The angrier you are and/or the longer you stay angry, the more pronounced the reaction will be.**

 **This info might be needed later….**

 **Fav, follow and review!**


	6. Chapter 6: Unspoken Actions

**Alison's character: I believe people can change, yes. But I also believe, no matter how much you've changed, you still have that old piece of you way down below that tends to show itself when needed. "I might have changed my ways but don't think you can step to me without being clawed down." kind of thing. Will there be times when Alison gives up and starts resenting herself? Yes. Will there be times when Alison just rips apart someone with just a few words? Oh yeah.**

 **To everyone who believes that Emily is being unfair to Alison: Yes, that is** _ **exactly**_ **how I want her to act. Emily right now is in her own bubble, blaming others around her for her misfortune. Unfortunately, it's so much better to blame Ali rather than take account for what has happened. We've all seen people do it, maybe you've done it once. It's all a part of the downwards spiral of depression and PSTD because lets be real, Emily is being selfish. Well in this story anyway :) Will there be a revelation point for Emily to realize that Alison isn't the cause for her downfall? Yes. But in the meantime, she has yet to find herself after everything has happened and boy will she be doing** _ **a lot**_ **of soul searching. A LOT.**

 **However, don't worry about trying to fully understand everything right now.** _ **Trust me**_ **, everything I'm doing has a reason behind it. I am Madness, not Marlene haha. So just lay back, relax, grab the strongest liquor you can find and enjoy this ride. ;)**

CHAPTER #6: Unspoken Actions

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Waking up considerably early during the weekend morning, Emily decides to start off the day with a run through the neighborhood. Something she used to do to help clear her head but hasn't attempted to do in a long time. Putting on black track shorts and a flimsy grey tank, Emily grabs her phone, earbuds, and armband and jogs her way down the stairs.

"Morning, Emily." Pam greets her daughter as Emily adjusts her phone inside the band around her left arm. She points out the sporty attire, "What are you up to?"

"I'm going for a run around the neighborhood, seeing that I haven't done it in a while." Emily puts one earbud into her right ear as she walks over to a cabinet and grabs herself a glass.

"That sounds great. I'll go with you." Wayne stands from his seat, thrusting himself into Emily's plans without any kind of proposal first.

Emily takes a sip of water with a shaded perplexed look, "No, it's ok..." She waves her father down, "I rather much do this alone."

"Nonsense." Wayne ignores as he looks at his watch, "I'll get ready and we'll be out in 15."

"Uhhh…but Wayne, you-you can't." Pam stops her husband from leaving the kitchen with a worried some look, "Your-your _heart_ …You heard doctor's orders. No strenuous activities."

Emily mentally thanks her mother as Wayne goes to protest but stops himself. He hangs his head and sighs a defeated breath before he looks back to Emily, "Well if I can't go…you're going to have an officer assist you on your run."

Emily's eyes agitatedly shifts between her mother and father, "C-can't I just go by myself? I don't need a chaperon. They probably won't be able to keep up anyways."

"They're trained police officers that require to achieve a certain amount of fitness. I'm pretty sure your speed and route won't have them gasping for air." Wayne responds on beat having Emily slightly stunned at the sass her father is using against her. "I'm going to talk to one of them to go with you."

"But I don't _need_ one. I-I just want to go by myself." Putting her glass down on the counter and putting her other earbud in her ear, Emily proceeds to walk out the kitchen. "I'll be back within an hour."

" _Emily_." Wayne's assertive voice stops Emily from leaving. She slowly turns around to face her parents, "You're not going by yourself. Before? Yes. But now? You're not."

"But I-"

"Do not argue with me on this, Emily!" Wayne shouts as he cuts her off with his eyes closed and a hand up telling Emily to stop her pleading. "You are _not_ leaving this house without an escort. If you can't deal with that then you are not leaving! Period!" Pam tries to stop her husband from blowing up but her presence won't stop Wayne and Emily's silent stare down with Emily's eyes becoming defensive whereas Wayne's eyes stand his ground. " _Do I make myself clear_ or do you need me to repeat myself for the fifth time?"

Emily clenches her jaw as she knows she will not win this battle, "No, sir." she responds with a low, beaten voice before she leaves the kitchen. Wayne sighs, shaking his head and looks to Pam who looks just as worried as she was before.

…..

Holding her right foot behind her, stretching out her leg muscles, Emily does her pre-run stretches in her driveway, listening to music as she watches her father talk to an officer sitting inside of their cruiser. After a few minutes of talking Wayne turns around with the officer leaving the car and follows his lead behind him. Noticing her father's lips move, Emily removes her earbuds mid-sentence, "-tell him where your route runs and he'll follow behind you."

"I plan on running through the back…" Emily lets go off her foot as she explains, "I'm pretty sure you can't drive through woods."

"Oh, that's fine," The officer emerges from behind Wayne, "I'll be right behind you on foot."

Emily's whole body stiffens and breathing stop as she sees Lorenzo. Without noticing, her hands had balled into fists. She regains her composure and plays it off with a nod looking down as she stretches are arm out in front of her, daring not to say a word to him with her father in-between them.

"Alright. I'll see you in an hour." Wayne pulls Emily in with one arm and kisses her on the forehead as Emily puts on a fake smile, continuing to look down. He gives a final nod to Lorenzo and walks back into the house leaving the two by themselves.

"Emily, I-"

"These are my rules." Emily shuts up Lorenzo as she lets go of her arm and swings them besides her, "Don't talk to me. About _anything._ I have nothing in common with you and would rather hear the blood flow through my body than to try to listen to you talk and breathe at the same time. Unless I am in some type of eminent danger, do not utter a single to me." Before she could get anything out, Emily's arm vibrates with a text notification.

 _Today 9:35am_

 _Aubrey:_ Good morning! Here's a little something that should help extend soothing vibes throughout your day :) [Song File] "Clouds – Imagined Herbal Flows"

Smirking to herself before she looks back at Lorenzo, her demeanor changes back to cold as she puts both earbuds in, "You better keep up because I got on my own speed and I'm not slowing down for you." Lorenzo gives a defeated nod prompting Emily to press play on the song Aubrey sent her, brushes by the officer and begin her running.

…

Well into her running, Emily changes her technique on purpose; passing through uneven ground, steep hills, very crowded area of the woods, all while changing her speed. Although she was the one putting herself in harder predicaments, she didn't care. As long as she knew that Lorenzo was suffering somehow, especially with all the equipment he had on, she was somewhat satisfied. However, going through her running path, listening to music to block everything out, she still could hear the sound of boots stomping behind her between the breaks of her songs. Just to know the person who is coming between her and Alison is right behind, her warps her mind every time.

Nearing the end of her run, Emily physically could not push any harder and stops in her trails, taking out her earbuds as she tries to catch her breath.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lorenzo huffs out, carefully walking up behind her.

"What's your deal?" Emily straighten up as she places her hands on her hips still trying to find her breath. "What's wrong with you?"

Lorenzo beetles his forehead, "What are you talking about?"

"Why are you messing with a victim? Someone you're supposed to watch over? You can't find a competent enough woman your age so you have to prey on a damaged high school girl?"

"Emily-"

"Don't call me by my first name. I don't know you." Emily aggressively seethes out.

Lorenzo sighs as he re-tries, " _Look_ …Alison and I…." He raises his palms defenseless, "there is nothing going on between us."

"Looking in the mirror and telling yourself that lie is one thing but to think you're going to try to sell that lie to me…?" Emily shakes her head in disbelief, "You must be ridiculous."

"We-"

"You're going to stay away from her." Emily steps closer to Lorenzo with seriousness in her voice, "You _will_ stay away from her. Your job is to _protect_ her, not _penetrate_ her. Anything more than that and I promise you're going to be on the first flight out of here."

The officer gives her a short side-glance of confusion, "A-Are you serious?"

Emily returns the exaggerated look back to Lorenzo, "D-Did I stutter? N-No I didn't." Emily gives a last final up and down look at Lorenzo and takes off on her path back home.

…

Hours passing through the day and Alison finds comfort on her living room couch as she lays in her house alone. Looking nowhere in particular, Alison daydreams with her eyes open as she listens to the ticking of her grandfather clock.

"Nah man, my shift started at ten."

"She hasn't left the house since yesterday…unless she dug a tunnel." The officers in her driveway laugh as their voices travels through the window and into Alison's now attentive ears.

"Yeah, you know, with this little skank I wouldn't be surprised, right? Who's protecting _us_ from _her_?" Alison sits up from the couch as she tries to listen more onto the conversation two officers seem to be having ever so loudly.

"Ha, seriously. I mean, how many people has she put behind bars? I say they should just chain her to the bed." She gets up and walks over to the nearest window to her right, pulling back the curtains slightly so she won't be seen.

"Right? So are you running the second shift?"

"Yeah…"

"Alright, I'll see ya then."

"Yeah, I'll call."

Alison watches the officers go their separate ways when she hears the sound of jiggling keys and the front door unlocking. She turns around to see Jason some bags on the living room table, "Hey, Jason."

"Hi…" He responds dryly as he stuffs his wallet into his back pocket.

Alison points to the bags, "What did you get?"

"Some things dad needed." Jason answers in a monotonous voice, seeming not wanting a conversation.

Alison awkwardly nods her head as she crosses her arms, " _Sooo_ , how was your day so far? What did you do?"

"Look, I don't feel like talking right now," Jason annoyingly breathes out as he picks up one of the bags of the table. "Go talk to one of your little friends or something."

Alison watches her brother leave the living room and walks right back out the door, closing it shut, leaving Alison by herself once again. Brief sadness overwhelms her being as she walks back to and lays herself onto the couch she once was in. She reaches over for her phone behind and decides to text the girls. _Someone has to be doing nothing._

 _Today 2:15pm_

 _Alison:_ What are you up to? Want to come over?

 _Hanna:_ Can't. I'm stuck over here at Dr. Sullivan's

x

 _Alison:_ Hey, can you come over?

 _Spencer:_ Sorry, I'm in Philadelphia with my mom.

 _x_

 _Alison:_ Come over?

 _Aria:_ I'm photographing right now. Maybe later?

Disappointed at her responses from the people she thought she could depend on, Alison looks through her contacts and notices how many friends she actually has. Only the four girls. Nobody else. Who would have guessed that Alison DiLaurentis would grow up to have nobody? She hovers over Emily's contact number, silently debating with herself if she should even charter that unpredictable land seeing that their last form of contact was the street performance they put on. _No…No I deserve answers. Why the hell she's deciding to lash out on me?_ Alison clicks their text conversation and deliberates how to send her message.

 _Today 2:27pm_

 _Alison:_ Come over we need to talk.

 _Wait…That makes me seem confrontational. She's probably not_ _even going to respond. And if she does, we're probably going to fight._

 _Alison:_ Can you come over please?

 _Ok, that makes me sound desperate._

 _Alison:_ I need to talk to you.

 _Ok, that makes me sound even more desperate._

 _Alison:_ Can you come over?

 _Alison:_ I think we need to talk. In person.

 _Alison:_ Wyd? I need to talk to you.

Alison throws her head back in exasperation as she overthinks how to send a simple text to a simple person. Except when that simple text is sent to a fairly complex person, all bets are off. She erases her previous text and types out two words.

 _Alison:_ Come over.

She presses send and immediately locks her screen, not wanting to see anything. She taps the corner of her phone on her mouth as she awaits a text back.

…..

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

 _Today 2:40pm_

 _Emily:_ Why?

Alison squints at her phone. _Why?_ She looks at the one worded text she waited about ten minutes for. _Why?_

 _Alison:_ Just come.

 _Emily:_ Fine.

Alison lets out a large breath as she locks her phone once again. She knows that probably the next 15 minutes or less, Emily is going to be at her door. Once she opens the door, things could either go two ways….

…

 _Knock, Knock, Knock._

Three firm knocks make contact with Alison's front door as she gets off from her couch. Reaching the front door handle, she takes in a long and deep breath to prepare herself. Once ready, she unlocks the door and pulls it open to reveal an emotionless Emily standing before her. Looking at each other with no words being exchanged, Alison moves to the side to allow Emily access into her house. The brunette silently walks past Alison and enters her living room, turning around to face the blonde.

"I need help understand something..." Alison painfully starts off seeing that Emily wasn't going to be the first to say something. "I don't understand what I did to you to make you so angry at me. What you did outside your house-I did nothing to you and you wanted to make a big scene." Emily scoffs as she rolls her eyes, crossing her arms. Alison waits for Emily to speak but she doesn't. "What?" Alison shakes her head, "This is going to be a one sided conversation? You're just going to stand there?"

"I have nothing to say to you." Emily responds in a cold, low voice as holds strong eye contact.

" _Oh, no._ You have _a lot_ to say to me." Alison steps closer, "You can start off by telling me what the hell is going on. You played this shit on me earlier at school, ditched me at The Brew, went crazy on me at-"

"Stop….calling….me crazy." Emily closes her eyes as she breathes out a steady breath.

"Well what do you want me to call it, Emily? _Wild_? _Bizarre_? _Outrageous_?"

"You know what?" Emily interjects as she nods her head, clapping her hands together, "Maybe I _am_ crazy. Maybe I'm crazy for ever feeling anything for you. Maybe I'm crazy for allowing myself to believe that maybe you actually liked me and cared for me the same way I do for you. Maybe I'm crazy for trying to do everything in my power to protect you even when I didn't know what I was protecting you from." Emily sneers as she turns her back to Alison, admiring the windows, "That's what it is. Let's deem her the crazy girl. _Emily is crazy._ " Then Emily slowly turns back around to Alison, "Or maybe I'm not the one who's crazy. Maybe _you're_ crazy. Crazy enough to not see what's so evidently in front of you but you're too blind to see it. Or maybe you do see it and this dumb act is exactly what it is. _An act_."

Alison sighs as she runs her hand through her hair, "No one is acting, Emily."

"Then look me in my eyes." Emily walks up to Alison in her personal space, "Look me in my eyes and tell me that you have no feelings for me whatsoever. If you can do that….I'll leave you alone for good. I'll just be your friend. That's it."

Alison looks back and forth into the brunette's big brown as Emily stands face to face to her. Alison blinks a few time before closing them and shaking her head, "I-I…I don't know."

"How do you not know, Alison?" Emily interrogates in certain doubt as she shakes her hands out in front of her, "It's a simple question that requires a simple yes or no answer. Do you have any feelings for me? Yes or no?"

"It's not that simple! I...I have feelings for you" Alison's eyes sweep down unguarded, "But I don't know...I don't know-"

Becoming irritated, Emily rolls her head back as she turns around and paces away with Alison still mumbling her uncertainty. Rubbing her face with frustration, Emily paces back to Alison, grabs her face and pulls her in for a kiss; the sudden action making Alison stagger back. For a quick moment's worth, Emily pulls away with still her hands on her face and looks back with desperate eyes, "Did you feel anything?"

Alison hangs her mouth open to respond but was actually left speechless, with only mumbled sounds of tried words.

In Alison's mind, she's just as jumbled within as she is outside.

In Emily's mind, if you don't succeed, try again.

Emily pulls Alison in for a much deeper kiss. Taking all the control, Emily starts off with slow and sensual kisses, waiting for Alison to reciprocate before adding tongue. After the brief shock of Emily kissing her again, Alison slowly loses herself with Emily's warm hands caressing her face and soft, full lips giving her all the attention. When she begins to kiss Emily back, Emily slowly walks backwards, knowing the couch is just a few feet away. Bringing her down to the furniture, both girls sit upright as Emily slides her hands to Alison's neck. Slowly adding the tip of her tongue to brush against Alison's, Emily pulls Alison into her even more just to show her how much emotion she has for her. That she's not crazy. Emily gently and briefly pulls back and kisses Alison's jawline and processes to place slow and passionate kisses across and now to the side of her neck beneath her ear causing Alison to-

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

Separating from each other, Emily feels a phone vibrate underneath her. Still holding onto Alison with her right hand, she reaches for the phone with her left and takes a quick glimpse at the lock screen.

3:35pm

Lorenzo: _Hey, are you home?_

Letting go of Alison, Emily looks a despised look at Alison as she continues to hold her phone. "You have his number saved in your phone?"

"I-I-It's for emergencies." Alison sputters out being caught off-guard from the interruption of the moment she just had, mentally cursing Lorenzo for texting her. "Just in case something happened and I needed help."

"I've known Detective Tanner for a long enough time and I don't have _her_ number saved in my phone." Emily irritably responds back. Alison reaches for her phone but Emily pulls her phone father back away from her reach. "Are you actually with him Alison?"

"No, I-"

Emily scoots away from Alison, cutting off whatever explanation she was going to come up with, "Are you screwing him? Because if you are, I need to know _right now._ "

"Emily, give me my phone." Alison impatiently reaches but Emily pulls even farther back.

"If that kiss meant anything to you….If I mean anything to you, tell me right now." Emily's eye searching inside of Alison's, "I fucking hate unspoken words, Alison. If you feel something, say it." Emily awaits Alison's response when her phone begins to vibrate inside the palm of her hand.

 _Lorenzo_

 _mobile_

 _[Decline] - [Answer]_

Alison sees the incoming call and quickly darts her eyes back to Emily who is looking back at her with an unbelievable look. Emily extends the phone to Alison, "Put it on speaker."

"No," Alison defies as her fingers brushes the phone before Emily jerks the phone back. Alison looks up at her grimacing with one eye, "I'm not going to answer it,"

 _The hell you are._ Emily taps the accept button and its turns on speaker before she tosses the phone to Alison. Alison scrunches her face in distress as she stares Emily back down at the move she just pulled.

"Hello?" Alison answers the phone through gritted teeth.

"Hey, are you home right now?"

"Yeah...W-what's going on?" Alison responds with her eyes locked with a very stiff Emily.

"Oh, nothing. I just saw Jackie from the church program and I was going to drop off some paperwork. That's why I was hoping you'd be home."

 _Thank God._ "Uh-Yeah. Yeah, that'll be fine but I'm-I was on my way to take a nap so…"

"Oh ok, that's no problem. I'll just put it in your mailbox when I pass by. If you can get it done by Monday, that'll be great."

"Ok, thank you." Alison nods carefully studying Emily's face, trying to read what she could possibly be thinking.

"Alright. Sleep easy, ok?"

"Ok. Bye."

"Bye."

Alison moves her sights to her phone screen as she ends the call. She breathes out not only because of the sudden spot she was put on but thankful that Lorenzo didn't say anything that would cause Emily to turn into the hulk. "See…I told you." She looks up at Emily, " _Nothing_."

Emily narrows her eyes as she crosses her arms, "Why did you tell him you were going to sleep when we both know you not?"

"Because the last thing I need is for him to come here with you rising to your defenses." Alison unapologetically defends herself, "Its already bad enough my dad is on my case 24 hours a day. I don't need _another_ parent." Alison squeezing the skin between her eyes between two fingers as she sighs out, "Besides, I didn't bring you over here to fight, Emily. I want to know what's going on with you. Y-you're changing and it's starting to worry the girls."

"Oh, because I'm _only_ the concern of the girls', right?" Emily stands to her feet, "Because as of lately, strangers have been coming up to me, asking me what was wrong and why I looked so tired and that's when I realized you didn't even care enough to notice. The only thing you could say is I looked like a fucking cancer commercial."

"I," Alison gives up with the back and forth, "You can't blame me for that. We were _fighting_. You were saying things to me as well so you can't play that card on me." Alison shakes her head with a different tone in her voice. " _Of course_ I noticed, Emily. I noticed the moment I saw you at Spencer's house. I noticed when we were at school. I'm noticing now!" Alison raises her hands up and down at Emily's appearance as she stands up. "I've noticed."

Emily takes her hands and digs them deep into her hair, pulling it up by the roots as she twists her body side to side, "Ok, _Sherlock Holmes_ ," She lets go of her hair, as she brings her hands down to her face "If you notice everything so quickly why do you fail to notice the most important aspect of this entire thing?"

Alison side steps Emily as she narrows her eyes, "What was that?"

"Don't try to change the subject." Emily squints her eyes in annoyance as she ignores her attempt to run away from the issue once again.

Alison steps closer to Emily, prompting Emily to stand her ground cautiously, "Did you get a _tattoo_?" She points to the back of Emily's neck, "Was that a tattoo I saw?"

"Yep," Emily takes slow steps back as Alison keeps inching closer, "I got your named tattooed behind my ear." She remarks through a sneer.

" _Bullshit_." Alison stops dead in her tracks, "No you didn't, Emily."

"I sure did. Went over to the town and payed $40 just to write _Alison_ in bold ink." Emily emphasis Alison's name with her hand waving from left to right in the air.

"A-are you serious?"

"What difference would it make?" Emily shrugs with a shake of her head, "You already made it clear that I mean nothing to you."

" _Emily_ , you just _kissed me_! And I kissed you back! Wha…?"

"Bill Clinton kissed Monica Lewinsky and it didn't mean anything to him." Emily backs up towards the entrance of the living room, heading to the door. "If you can't say it with your words….it means nothing. I'm done playing these game with you."

"I said it with my _fucking_ tongue!" Alison yells out, "Oh my go….are you fucking kidding me?" Alison mutters out as she runs after Emily and yanks her arm back before she got the chance put her hand on the door knob and walk out the door. "I'm not fucking doing this back and forth bullshit with you!" She spits out with edginess, "You want _emotion_? You want _words_?! Well here it is!"

Emily lowers her eyes and voice at Alison as she sucks in the bottom corner of her lip, "Where's your dad and Jason?"

"What?!" Alison bewilderingly asks with her tone still up in irritation.

" _Where are they_?" Emily calmly repeats herself putting emphasis behind every word.

"I dunno! My dad and Jason are both…out….doing _something_." She throws her hands up with her face and words masked with impatience and confusion. She slicks her hair back with both hands as she shakes her head, "I've been inside this fucking house with no contact with anyone and I'd be _damned_ if you're going to leave on some bullshit like this. I'm already limited on the amount of people I can trust in my life and the last thing I need is for someone in that circle to have resentment towards me."

While Alison vents her aggression at Emily, Emily takes in Alison standing in front of her with looks trailing from toe to head; mentally making note of the type of clothing she's wearing, the amount of possible layers, and a quick peek at the clock on the wall. Closing the space between them with a couple of small steps, Emily holds direct eye contact which causes Alison to straighten up, not knowing what Emily was planning on doing. Just as Emily licked her lips and swooped down to kiss Alison again, Jason swings open the front door causing both girls to jump back in surprise, Jason surprised as well to see Emily standing in front of him.

"H-hey, Jason." Emily causal shoves her hands in her pockets as Alison nervously crosses her arms.

"Hi…" Jason closes the door behind him. "Here." He motions to Alison as he hands her a couple sheets of paper, "Lorenzo just dropped this by for you." Alison immediately glances at Emily's uncomfortable shift in attitude as she grabs the paperwork. "Emily," she quickly interjects, "Do you mind coming with me to my room to help me with this?"

"No," Emily coldly responds through her clenched jaw as she avoids even looking at Alison, "I gotta go anyway." Emily briskly walks past Jason, opens the door and closes it behind her, leaving Jason and Alison in silence by themselves. Jason side-eyes Alison but as soon as Alison opens her mouth to say something, Jason cuts her off, "I don't care." walking past her in his own direction.

 **It just dawned on me halfway through writing this that everyone in Rosewood right now is in 2012. So that means any relevant pop culture reference I was going to make, I have to go three years back AND THAT SUCKS. -.-**

 **Did you guys see the latest episode last night and noticed how defensive, clingy and possessive Emily was getting over Sara? I was sooo not feeling that. Like at all. And I'm really hating how they are writing Emily's character this season. She's been through so much and she's basically resulted to waiting hands and knees at Sara's beckoning call. It's like she can't do anything without her and it's super annoying. Sara had more character development with not taking a shower that episode than Emily has done this whole season. I've never trusted Sara because I remember way back when Sara's friends said that Sara was the Ali of their group and they could actually breathe when she wasn't around. Now, I know that 2 years in a hole can damage a person but I'm not buying any of Sara's antics. Ugh, let me stop before I go on a huge rant about how the show is making them two prom dates in the prom episode.**

 **Then you had Lorenzo on Alison like, "I tried calling her a couple times. She usually calls me back right away." And I'm like *Rubs hands together* _Hmmm...More ammo for my story, Lorenzo, please do tell._**

 **Anyways! Back to my fic where I'm mentally and emotionally torturing my characters by putting them in stressful and heart shattering situations haha.**

 **What do you guys think so far? You can kind of see where this is going can't you?**


	7. Chapter 7: It Goes Downhill From Here

CHAPTER #7: "It Goes Downhill From Here"

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"HELLO, EMILY FIELDS! NICE OF YOU TO JOIN US TODAY!" A cheerful female voice fills the enclosed, dim lighted room as Emily madly tries to break free of her shackles holding her down to a table. "PLEASE, DO NOT TAMPER WITH THE RESTRAINTS!" Her jolly tone demands the disheveled capture.

Looking up at the blinking camera in the top right hand corner behind her, Emily fearfully weeps as she gives up all of her energy. "What do you want from me?!"

"WE'RE GOING TO PLAY A LITTLE GAME CALLED, _HOW MUCH DO YOU CARE ABOUT YOUR FRIENDS?_ IN FRONT OF YOU THERE ARE THREE SWITCHES; EACH ONE LINKED A DEAR FRIEND OF YOURS. DURING EACH ROUND, YOU WILL CHOOSE WHICH FRIEND TO ADMINISTER SHOCK VOLTAGE TO. IF YOU DO NOT PICK WITHIN THE SET TIME, THEY _ALL_ BE SHOCKED. ARE YOU READY TO PLAY?"

"N-n-no. No, _p-please_ …" Emily sputters out as she looks at the three switches placed in front of her. Underneath each white switch is a soulless Polaroid of either Spencer, Hanna or Aria. Emily tries one last time to flex out of her restraints but it's so tight that it begins to leave indents on her wrists.

" _GREAT_! COMMENCING ROUND ONE, 250 VOLTS."

 _BEEP...BEEP...BEEP!_

Emily shuts her eyes and slams her hands to cover her ears as the piercing alarm ring off the walls.

"CHOOSE ONE OR ALL WILL SUFFER."

"N-nooo." Emily begs as she turns to face the camera again. "Please, don't!"

"5!"

"4!"

"No! _Please!"_

"3!"

Emily body begins to shake in panic as she turns back to look at the traumatic faces of her friends underneath their assigned switch. She darts her eyes back and forth between each picture.

"2!"

"1!"

Tears escape Emily's eyes before she closes them as she shaky hands lunge for a random switch causing a loud shriek of pain coming from another room.

Emily gasps herself out of her sleep drenched in sweat. Grabbing her chest as she tries to catch her breath, she frantically looks around her room, thrashing her sheets around.

 _BEEP...BEEP...BEEP!_

Emily desperately tries to jump out of her bed but gets tangled within her sheets around her legs and falls hands first to the floor. " _N-n-nonon-n-nonono…_ " She fearfully mumbles to herself as she overturns to her back, kicking the intertwined sheets off her. She hurriedly slides backwards on her back before she changes to a stomach crawl as the piercing beeping sounds become louder and louder. She scuttles up to her window and wildly pulls apart her curtains just to see a work truck on her street beeping as the workers operate on some kind of minor construction. Taking a few moments to realize her reality, Emily's breathing becomes less shallow and a bit more orderly as she incessantly blinks at the sudden amount of sunlight. She pulls the curtains back together and places her hands on her face as she continues to get her breathing under control.

 _I'm in my room._ _  
My actual room._ _  
There are no cameras  
No intercoms  
No A.  
I'm safe._

She slides her hands up from her face as she slicks back her damp hair. _It was just a dream...it was…just…a dream..._

…...

Walking inside The Brew, Emily notices a fairly young guy sitting in the far back of the shop, drumming on his cup of coffee as he tends to his phone. Taking a deep breath, she makes her way to his table.

"Hi." Emily politely smiles through her sunglasses as she takes the seat in front of him.

"Oh-Hi!" The guy quickly greets Emily out of surprise. He offers his hand out for a handshake, " _Miley, right_?"

"Yeah," Emily nods as she returns the firm handshake.

"Good, good." He wipes his hands on his pants as he grabs the small case out of his lap, "I don't have a lot of time because I'm on break but here is everything I listed on the ad." He discreetly unzips the black casing and turns it to face Emily as he points to all of its amenities, "Sig Sauer P238 Nitron .380 ACP with two standard mags, 20 Sig Sauer Elite Performance Self Defense Rounds, 100 95 gr Remington UMC target rounds _aaaaand_ …" He unzips another compartment of the case, "a Crossbreed style hybrid IWB holster."

Exactly for the reasoning of her sunglasses, Emily's eyes widen as she observes the piece of steel inside the casing of the young man's. Trying to seem as calm and neutral as possible, Emily reaches into her back pocket. _Am I really about to do this?_ "$350 is still the price right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Emily takes out her wallet as well as some heavy bills from inside of it. _I'm really about to do this. I'm really about to do this. I'm really about to purchase a gun._ Dipping into her unofficial savings hidden in her closet, Emily counts $350 before giving it to the man for him to recount. As he goes over the amount given to him, Emily slides the soft case to her as she observes over the metal without actually removing it for the whole entire shop to see.

"350." The young man looks up with Emily with a warm smile as he transfers it to his own wallet, "I hope you enjoy it. That definitely was a sweetheart to me." He looks at the time on his phone before he begins to get out of his seat, "You know, if you have any problems with it, any questions or concerns, you have my number."

"Of course," Emily remarks as she zips up the case and rises to her feet as well, "Thank you for meeting me."

"Oh no," He slowly begins to back up from the table, "Thank _you_ , Miley. I'll see you around."

Emily nods at him and he turns his back and walks towards the exit. Now with a certified weapon inside of an establishment, Emily also heads for the door before she sees Ezra and the amount of questions he'll ask. She reaches for her car keys and unlocks her car door with the push of a button so she can stuff her new accessory inside of the glove compartment for now.

…..

Nails tap on top of the phone screen followed by a sigh. Alison looks out into the space in front of her as she continues a rhythmic tap on her phone screen. After taking in everything that happened the day prior, she finds herself in a familiar situation as she debates within herself.

 _I should just send the text…_

 _No…no call her. Calling her would be better. So, there would be no miscommunication…_

 _She might not even answer._

 _I'll text._

 _No call. I'll leave a voicemail._

 _No…who even checks their voicemails anymore?_

Alison taps on her phone faster as the confusing thoughts race into the cervices of her mind.

 _I have to tell her the truth. I'm-I'm….I'm just going to have to do it in person. I'll…I'll go see her._

Ali slowly nods to herself as she leaves her thoughts and looks around that the empty dining room table she's sitting at. Pushing herself out of the chair, Alison reassures herself before she leaves her house to venture towards Emily's.

…..

"I _do_ care about you. I care _for you_ and have always, you know that. It's just…I need patience from you. I-I can't just jump into a full blown relationship the way you want me to. I need time-we both do. We need to find ourselves before we try to give each other a piece of us. And if you can respect my wishes…we can work at something." Alison quietly talks to herself as she goes over possible ways to speak to Emily. "I want you," She sighs out, "But at the same time…I want to be right when I'm with you. I don't want any negative influences that could sever anything between us. I'm… _I'm just scared_." Alison walks down the sidewalk approaching Emily's house and goes over her final speech inside of her head as she makes her way towards the door.

 _Ding Dong!_

A deep sigh is sounded.

Door is being unlocked.

Alison's eyes drift to the home resident.

Only to be greeted by the wrong Fields.

"Hello, Alison," Pam greets the blonde with a welcoming yet slightly surprised greeting. The last time she saw Alison was when she took off out of the house as if she was trying to win a marathon. Before Emily dyed her hair and became antisocial with everyone.

"Hi, Mrs. Fields." Alison puts on her best smile, "Is Emily home?"

"I'm afraid not." Pam crosses her arms, "She went over to The Brew to meet with Hanna not too long ago."

"Oh…" Alison's tone and eyes showed traces of disappointment before she looked back at Emily's mother, "Well, thank you."

"Do you want me to tell her you stopped by?"

"Oh, no that's ok. I'll just head over there, right now."

Pam looks over Alison to see there was no form of transportation awaiting for Alison, "You're going to walk?" She asked as the concerned mother she is with her eyebrows raised in an apprehensive manner.

"It helps me clear my head.' Alison assures the nerves of Pam with another smile. "I'll be perfectly fine."

"Be careful out there, Ali. Okay?"

"Yes Ma'am. Thank you." Alison turns her back and walks down their front porch and onto her new path: The Brew.

…..

With the scent of fresh cocoa beans being brewed, Alison steps through the entrance of the establishment as she looks around for familiar faces.

A familiar face in particular.

Unfortunately, she sees a face that she wasn't quiet looking for but it's something, nonetheless.

"Hey, Alison." Ezra almost walks past the blonde as he is on some kind of business related phone call just by the stressed look smeared on his face.

"Hey. Have you seen Emily?"

Ezra bites his lip as he scopes the whole shop around him, squinting to see if Emily was still visible somewhere. ' _Uhhh_ …Looks like….she's not here." He turns back to Alison, "She was here last time I saw here like 15 minutes ago. Maybe she's walking somewhere around the town center?" Ezra offers his opinion as Alison looks defeated once again.

"Alright, thanks." She goes to turn around before Ezra calls out for her.

"Here," He grabs a couple cookies from the cookie stand and hands it to her, "Take a cookie. I've been trying to get rid of them all morning." Alison gives a small smile as she takes the offered snack. "Uhm _yes_! I've been on hold for about twenty minutes now. What the hell is going on over there?" Ezra snaps into the other caller on his phone as he gives Alison a "see you later" nod. She returns the silent nod before she heads towards the exit.

…

Messing with her phone in her hands as she walks down the sidewalk of the town center, keeping her eyes peeled out for a certain now redhead, Alison has Emily's number dialed on the call screen but hesitates to press call. _Where the hell are you, Emily?_ Alison's heels click on the ground as she gives herself a few more seconds before she takes the dive and call her anyway. Slowing down her pace as she looks at the screen once again, Alison takes that gamble and calls Emily's phone. Putting the phone to her ear as she looks around her surrounding, her eyes stop at a certain business where she sees, what looks like, Emily's vehicle. Drifting her eyes past the parking space and into the shop itself, she's able to see right through the large window. Alison continues to allow the phone to ring in her ear as she watches Emily and an unknown female laugh it up inside of the establishment's lobby. Hearing Emily's phone still ringing, Alison watches to see if Emily picks up her call.

But with the look of things,

 _Emily is far too busy to notice anyone trying to contact her._

"She goes left! She goes right! Hits her defender with the crossover! Pulls up for the three with only 5 seconds left! Will she make the shot?!" Aubrey narrates with the intensity of a mock announcer's voice as she tosses up candy milk dud in the air, aiming for Emily's open mouth, making a bulls-eye shot. " _Score_!" Aubrey throws her fists in the air for celebration. She then proceeds to do a small happy dance in her honor of making the last second shot. "And the crowd goes wild!" Emily laughs as she chews the milk dud that was thrown into her mouth. Aubrey leans down to the table besides her and picks up the candy box. "Now it's your turn. Let's see if you're as clutch as I am."

"Oh, I'm way more clutch then you are," Emily brags as she playfully snatches the box right out of the brunette's hand, changing standing positions with her.

"What?!" Aubrey teasingly cocks her head to the side at Emily's apparent cockiness as she stands in Emily's old spot, "You're _nowhere_ as clutch as me. Do you see these tattoos?" She waves her hand in front of Emily, "These are the souls that I personally claimed. The souls who dare challenged me. You don't want to challenge me."

Emily digs into the box for another solid, circle, chocolate milk dud. She holds it up in between her index finger and thumb for Aubrey to see, "Watch me."

Aubrey smirks, pointing at a piece of tape on the floor, "That's the three point line. You have to shoot from behind there." Looking down at the tape, Emily slowly backs up a few feet away from the point, making daring eye contact with Aubrey with just as daring sneer. Aubrey returns a smug look of surprise before she opens her mouth as wide as she can with her tongue sticking fully out, wagging at her in a bantering manner.

"Silence falls over the crowd as they are about to witness history in the making," Emily starts her own narration. She puts a finger over her lips, "Shhhhh!"

"Boo!" Aubrey taunts before she opens her mouth again, waiting for Emily to make her move.

Emily concentrates on Aubrey's wide mouth as she props her elbows up for her toss. She takes a loud deep breath and flicks her wrist, releasing the chocolate in the air, landing right into Aubrey's tongue and into her mouth. " _Ooooooooooh_!" Emily jumps in the air with victory, "The crowd is on their feet as they celebrate the history that has just been made! Emily silencing the hecklers with just _one_ milk dud! Nobody can believe their eyes!"

"You got _soooo_ lucky." Aubrey giggles as she swallows the chocolate, "I had to move _just a little bit_ for you to get it in."

" _Bullshit_!" Emily mouth hangs in amusement. "That's bullshit and you know it!"

"Alright, let's go for round two then." Aubrey picks up the chocolate as she stands in close proximity of Emily "All or nothing. Loser coughs up twenty."

Emily looks back and forth into Aubrey's alluring hazel eyes with a grin spreading across her face. She steps in closer, limiting the space between their faces, "Loser coughs up twenty _and_ buys winner lunch."

Aubrey stays silent for a moment as they both exchange challenging stares to each other, " _Deal_." Aubrey side smirks with a tilt of her head.

" _Deal_." Emily returns the side smirk and head movement.

"Hi, you've reached my phone. Sorry that I couldn't answer your ca-" Alison abruptly hangs up her phone as she continues to watch Emily, seemingly flirting with some tattoo chick she's never seen before. Viewing their body language, exchanged looks, laughs, and throwing candy into each other's mouths, Alison furrows her brow and squints at the two girls. Nodding to herself as she squeezes her phone in her left hand, Alison clenches her jaw and continues on with her walk. Changing directions to lead her back to her house.

…..

Spending time hanging out in the lobby of the tattoo parlor with Aubrey due to slow business, Emily finally parted ways and headed back home before her whole "Hanging out with Hanna" scheme blows up in her face. Stopping at a red light, Emily checks her phone for any notifications she may have missed, hoping her parents didn't try to contact her. Instead, she sees a different kind of notification.

Alison _2 hours ago.  
_ Missed call

 _Alison called...?_ Emily stares at the screen until the light turned green. The debate whether to either call her back, text instead or to just go by her house was weighing heavily in Emily's mind as she drives in the direction of her home. Ultimately, the idea of seeing her face to face would be more of a logical idea.

...

Leaning the front of his body against the railing of Alison's front porch, Lorenzo hangs his head until he hears the front door open. He cocks his head to the side to see Alison approaching him with the paperwork he gave to her earlier.

"I totally could have dropped this off at church," Alison remarks as she hands off the fully completely formalities.

Lorenzo subtly shakes his head, "Why make you leave the house when you don't have to?"

"Because I want to…" Alison sighs out, looking down to at the wooden floorboards, "… _Leave_. It seems like everyone around me is continuing with their lives while I'm at a standstill. All of my friends are moving on and doing their own things."

"Yeah…" Lorenzo shoves his hands in his front pocket, "All while I'm starting to make enemies with your friends. _Well_ …One in particular." Alison glances up at Lorenzo with a quizzical look, "I was assigned to Emily's house yesterday and her father wanted me to join her on her run, you know, to make sure she's ok. On that run, she….didn't seem so pleased with me." He lightly chuckles to himself, "I'm pretty sure if it wasn't illegal, she would have left me out for dead in those woods."

Alison shakes her head as the corners of her mouth curl down in bother, "I don't even know how to apologize for her-"

"Don't." Lorenzo politely interjects, "She's your best friend and she just wants to protect you; just as any good person would do. If that means to threaten any foreign person that comes with 500 feet of you, then so be it."

Alison rolls her eyes, "She needs to change up her defensive tactics because pushing people away from me doesn't help anyone."

Lorenzo sucks in his bottom lip before he takes a breath that'll change the topic of conversation, "Hey, did you notice who was on site today?" He smiles, "At the curb? I got the goon who was on your beat to trade shifts with another officer." Alison eyes soften as Lorenzo explains his little switch up, "Her name's Lydia. She's nice." He shrugs, "You'll like her."

Alison raises her eyebrows as she lowers her voice in gratitude, "You didn't have to do that…"

"I wanted to..." Lorenzo tilts his head to the side as he gazes into Alison's despondent eyes, taking a small step towards her, "As long as I'm around…I'm going to make sure you're safe…" His voice drops to a mere whisper as he stands directly in front the blonde, "Even when I'm not there."

Alison's breathing stops as she realizes how close Lorenzo is to her and how sincere and warming his words sound leaving his mouth. Feeling herself being lost in his slanted brown eyes, Lorenzo makes the move of leaning down to kiss Alison, allowing their lips to make brief contact for a few seconds. Pulling back, Alison opens her eyes and she looks at Lorenzo with eyes of vulnerability before leaning forwards and kissing him back. Reaching his left hand up to her cheek, Lorenzo lips latches on to Alison's bottom lip as he pulls her closer to him.

The sudden sound of an approaching vehicle engine and gravel being crushed underneath four tires causes the two to immediately pull apart. However, the set of surprised brown eyes have already seen the act. Taking a glimpse at the driver behind the wheel, Lorenzo looks at Alison one last time before he hangs his head low, gripping tightly Alison's paper work as he walks past the blonde and to his own vehicle. Emily's eyes burned in his direction with every movement he made right before he snaps back to look at Alison.

Looking at Emily through her front windshield, Alison slowly turns on her heels and walks back inside of her house. Immediately exasperated, Emily abruptly puts her car in park, swings the driver's seat door, and hops out of the car with pure belligerence radiating inside of her body. Not allowing Alison to walk away, Emily fiercely jogs up Alison's front porch stairs and pushes through her unlocked front door as if she was in her own house. "Alison!" Emily raises her voice loud enough to be heard but low enough to respect Mr. DiLaurentis' house.

Ignoring her, Alison continues with a spring in her step as she trots up the stairs to her room.

"Alison!" Emily thunderously runs up the stairs behind her, picking up the pace before she follows her into her room.

" _What_?!" Alison aggravatingly turns around with her arms thrown in the air.

" _What_?" Emily mocks her with a cleft formed between her eyebrows as she cocked her head slightly to one side. "What the _hell_ was that?! You call me and I come over to see you locking lips with fucking _Lorenzo_?! After you _specifically_ told me, _in my face_ , that nothing was going on between-"

"I don't know who the hell you think you are barging into my house but I can tell you one thing," Alison cuts off Emily's ranting as she approaches her with a low, grim voice and eyes peering into Emily's, letting her know who's in control. "You're not going to raise your voice at me under _my roof_. I'm not some _animal_ , your _child_ and I'm sure as _fuck_ am not some random bitch on the street that you call holler at." Alison hisses out as she looks at Emily up and down, "You think you can run around, do whatever _you_ want _and_ get to police me around like you're my correctional officer? You must be out of your _fucking_ mind."

" _Excuse me_?" A deep crease appeared on Emily's forehead as she narrowed her eyes at Alison standing in front of her.

"You're fucking excused." She spits out with bitterness roughening her words, "Matter of fact...find the door and excuse yourself out of my fucking house."

Emily blinks, waiting for recognition to sink as Alison glares at her with intensity that she hasn't seen in years. Realizing a few things within herself, taking slow steps backward, Emily nods her head not leaving eye contact with Alison. "Okay…" She says just above a whisper as she pouches out her lips . "Okay…" She backs up until she stands in the doorway seeing if Alison was going to say anything else, instead Alison up-keeps her scowl unbothered. With Emily's face cooled down, she makes a clicking sound in the side of her cheek as she looks down and walks out of her room.

Alison hears footsteps walking down her hallway, down her stairs and after a brief silence, she hears the front door open and close. Relaxing her being, Alison's jaw starts to ache as she realizes that she has been clenching the entire time. She lets out an exhausted breath as she walks to her window, watching Emily start her car and leave her property.

" **Okay?"**

" **Okay."**


	8. Chapter 8: Spite:The Eye Of The Beholder

**It seems as if a few people are angry at me for the direction of the story… :(**

 **But** _ **guuuys**_ **, remember that huge intro of chapter one?**

"This is an Emison fiction _but_ I cannot guarantee you a smooth sailing. Unlike the fluff and cuteness of my other story, " _Trouaville_ ", this would be the complete opposite. With that being said….

 _READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!_

This is a rather dark drama and angst-filled story with the relationship between Emily and Alison being tested. Emotions will spiral to hell. I know with the possibility of Emison in PLL failing with new characters and "love interests" coming into the picture, the last thing the fandom needs is more angst so if you are weak-hearted, I suggest you to find a happier story. I say this because I love you enough to warn you :)"

 **This is an** _ **Angst**_ **story.**

 **The title of the story suggests** _ **Angst**_

 **In the summary, it says** _ **Angst.**_

 **In my author's notes:** _ **Angst.**_

 **I'm so sorry but if you are looking for an overall fluffy, cute, and adorable story, unfortunately,** _ **this is not the place.**_

 **If you're here for a better rewrite of season 6 between Emison,** _ **this is not the place.**_

 **I'm sorry if there was any confusion, my loves :/**

 **There are plenty of beautiful stories on here that holds exactly what you're looking for.**

 **Now to all the people who leave encouraging reviews every chapter, thank you so** _ **very**_ **much. I love getting your notifications and reading them. Even to those who leave more on the dispiriting side of reviews, thank you! You can't please everyone and I'm okay with that. I still love you all :D**

 **However, I'm glad you guys feel the frustration, on the other hand. :] Now, I would explain parts of the mindset of the characters but I'm going to stay silent and allow you guys to figure that on your own. All I will say is that this fiction imitates real life and how people deal with things. Some people handle things one way while others take a whole different approach.**

 **Like one reviewer said: I will not leave you guys hanging in the end. This is a journey and it will be stressful but there is light.**

CHAPTER #8: Spite: The Eye of the Beholder

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

With yet another small amount of time being between Emily and Alison, Emily keeps it moving with her days and nights. If she's not paying attention in class or spending time with her friends, she's texting Aubrey. When she isn't texting Aubrey, she's hanging out with her at her job or during lunch; whenever she can get time to go see her. Throughout every day, Emily has coaxed herself into believing that she doesn't need Alison. She doesn't need to see her, be around her, or anything. As much as she sits herself down and drills that in deep, deep within her...she knows she's lying to herself.

But she will never admit it.

Although she wants to still love her, a part of her wants to hate her with all of her heart.

But the attraction is still a part of her.

Whenever she's downtown, she'd take extra looks down the streets, just in case Alison was around. On her runs, she'd purposely run past Alison's house, just in case she's sitting outside on her porch or looking out the window.

 _But why?_

Why discipline yourself into believing that you're over someone but put yourself in positions where you'll probably see them?

What's the point? What would you say or do when you actually see them? Talk to them or purposely ignore them to convey to the other person, " _Look at me. Doing fantastic without you. You think I need you? Ha! You keep telling yourself that."_

What is the point?

A question that Emily won't allow to surface because she doesn't want to come face to face with the double standard. Although she smiles a bit more, laughs a bit harder, feels a bit more relief when she's with Aubrey, sometimes Emily would have that spell to not eat as much, sneak sips of her - now becoming a favorite- alcohol, have moments when she wants to be isolated.

But why?

Why still go through the dumps when you know where you could find happiness?

 _Double standard._

Or perhaps,

That's not the happiness she really wants deep within.

Emily parks her car as she gets ready to see Dr. Sullivan for this week. In past sessions when time would be spent with silence, coughing and less than 500 words being shared, Emily isn't too particularly thrilled for another hourly round of stillness _but_ she's not thrilled with sharing private information neither. So, for her sake, she'd rather use this session as a nap.

However there will be no napping.

That's because Emily completely forgot that this session is a group session.

And _everyone_ is invited.

Emily enters the room with everyone's eyes turning up to her: Dr. Sullivan, Aria, Spencer and Hanna. But on the far edge of the left side of the couch, Alison kept her expressions to herself as everyone greeted Emily walking inside.

"Nice of you to join us," Dr. Sullivan gives a welcoming smile and places a hand on Emily's shoulder as she points to an open spot on the couch between Alison and Aria. Emily nods and walks over to the sofa, walking towards Hanna who scoots over to the side for her to sit. As she sits, she takes a quick peek at Alison who is looking down at her heels, "I'm so glad all of you were able to make it," Dr. Sullivan thanks as she takes her seat at the head chair in front of the girls, "I think this will potentially be a good turning point for all of us."

…..

"A smile begins in our sensory passageways. The ear collects a whispered word. The eyes spot an old friend on the station platform. The hand feels the pressure of another hand. The entire event is short. Typically lasting from two-thirds of a second to four seconds, and those who witness it often respond by mirroring the action, and smiling back. Your smile is a powerful tool. Most people think that we smile because we feel happy, but it can go the other way as well: we feel happy because we smile." She pulls out a sheet of paper with blank boxes and lines from inside of a folder, "And with that being said, we're going to be doing _The Smile Experiment_."

"Smile experiment?" Aria asks with a perplexed look on her face.

"Yep. We're going to divide into small teams of two and discover the Happiness Advantage." She looks in-between all of the girls enthusiastically, "Who wants to go first?" There is a brief silence with looks being thrown towards others before Spencer offers her assistance, soon with Aria following her lead. "Great. Ok. Come stand in the front here, please." She beckons both girls to stand in the middle of the room facing each other, "Spencer you're going to be Person 1 and Aria you're going to be Person 2." Dr. Sullivan fills in the first two empty name boxes before she gives her directions.

"Ok. Spencer, and this applies to anyone who is Person one, you live your life with self-discipline, making good choices, rejecting bad choices, and being part of your family, school, and society. Think about all these good choices and self-control as you do this experiment. For the next moments, no matter what Person #2 says or does, I want you to show _absolutely no_ emotional reaction. Do not get angry, sad, or frustrated, and _do not_ smile or laugh. Go completely blank. Remember, show no emotion, no matter what." She turns to Aria, "Aria, Your instructions, when the timer begins, you are to look in the eyes of Spencer and smile at them genuinely. I will time how long it takes for each person to change their blank expression. We will change roles so that each person gets to do each job once." Dr. Sullivan gets her timer and pen ready as she sits up straight, prepared to begin, "Are you guys ready?"

"Yes."

"Yep."

Before she starts the timer, she looks onto the other three girls with an animatedly face, "Which one do you think is going to be able to keep the blank face the longest?"

"My money is on Spencer. That bitch is cold-blooded." Hanna comments out causing Aria to shoot her a look of surprise while Spencer gives her straight-faced, gangster nod of approval.

"Yeah…I think Spencer too." Alison adds in her opinion.

"Emily?" Aria calls out in desperate hope for a vote on her side.

"Uhmm…" Emily straightens up as if she was in a state of boredom, "I say Aria has this." She nods looking in Aria's direction, "She can get pretty intimidating at times."

"Thank you!" Aria bows as she turns back to Spencer with a sneer, "Bring it, Hastings."

"It's already been brought, Montgomery. Care for the receipt?" Spencer retorts back with the tilt of her head and a returned sneer.

"Ooooooh." Hanna feeds on as she scoots the edge of the sofa with her hands in her lap, looking back and forth between the two brunettes as if she was waiting for someone to swing first. Emily extends her hand out to nonchalantly stretch out the muscle as she discreetly glances at Alison. This time Alison catches it. Dr. Sullivan laughs at the friendly competition as she holds up the timer.

"Alright, on my mark, Aria your job is to smile to get Spencer to smile. Ready?" The timer starts off with a beep, "Go!"

Aria immediately peels back her lips to expose her warm and excited smile, her hazel eyes peering into Spencer's brown eyes, chanting for her to give up. Spencer returns the look with stern, vacant expression as her eyes hang low, looking down at Aria.

 _10 seconds._

Aria twists and turns her body slightly like a little child with her grin becoming more twisted as her eyes are no longer showing happiness but of taunt. Spencer is unmoved.

 _20 seconds._

Aria hangs her head down with a giggle before she cocks her head up with lip bite followed by another smile. That move right there was what broke the camel's back. Spencer tries to fight the smirk arising to her face but the corners of her lips begin quivering.

"She's smiling! She's smiling!" Aria points in Spencer's face, "She trying not to but she totally is!"

"29 seconds, Spencer!" She clicks her pen and writes down Spencer's time, "Well done."

"What? I was literally one second away from thirty?" Spencer whines, "Oh, you're so going down."

…..

 _10 seconds._

Spencer wiggles her eyebrows in a suggestive manner as she puts on a side smirk. Unaffected, Aria furs her eyebrows at Spencer.

"Aha!" Spencer claps with victory, "I win! You changed your expression!"

"17 seconds!"

"Wait! I didn't even smile!" Aria fights back with Spencer still laughing in the background.

"She said to show _no_ emotion. You furred your brows, which was an emotion. I win, again!"

Aria annoyingly takes her seat on the sofa next to Hanna with her arms crossed, "That wasn't an even an emotion."

…..

With Emily as Person One and Hanna Person Two. Dr. Sullivan begins the timer with Emily's face blank and Hanna's smile wide. As Hanna does everything in her power to make Emily crack, Emily sees in the background Alison looking directly at her. Unable to see her clearly, Emily wonders what her face looks like at that exact moment. Trying not to make an obviously focal point change, Emily blocks Alison out and goes back to Hanna in front of her, smiling as hard as she can with her hands rested under her chin. Knowing she could go longer, Emily purposely breaks the chain and smiles back.

"An impressive 35 seconds, Emily," Dr. Sullivan applauds as she writes down Emily's time.

Aria and Spencer pout their lips in a surprised nods as the two before them switch positions.

…..

Looking at Emily's sweet smile, Hanna gives up her hard look for a laugh instead.

"Seriously! That was only 7 seconds, Hanna!" Spencer hoots out loud in amazement.

"That's all you need Hanna?" Aria tag teams with Spencer, "7 seconds to get you off?"

"Ok, both of you _shut_ _it_." Hanna points her finger in between the two girls, "I can't help it when I have this precious cinnamon roll in front of me."

…

"Alright so Alison, since everyone had pairs already, you're going to have to work with someone who already went." Dr. Sullivan glances at the girls already seating, waiting for someone to volunteer. For a small second of silence, Alison looks down at the ground as she stands in front of everyone partner-less. "Emily," The therapist chooses, "You'll be Alison's partner."

"B-but I just went." Emily quickly deflects the position as Alison's partner with slightly furred brows.

"And so did everyone else." She points to the spot in front of the blonde, "Up."

Emily continues to glare at Dr. Sullivan before glancing up at Alison. She sighs as she pushes herself from the couch and takes her position in front of Alison, not making eye contact with her quite yet.

"Oh, this is like a pay-per-view match." Spencer smirks, darting her eyes in-between the two girls.

"Yeah, our battles were just fillers for the main event." Aria adds in.

Normally one to throw out her opinion, Hanna just leans back with her arms crossed and watches on, observing Emily and Alison's body language and expressions for their upcoming round.

"Emily you will be Person One and Alison you'll be Person Two. Ready? Begin."

Alison curls up with a closed mouth smile that reaches halfway to her eyes. Trying to actually participate with the experiment, Alison holds on her smile as she looks into the brown eyes of Emily.

Who returns back a look that Dr. Sullivan was very familiar with.

 _10 seconds._

 **Her now unblinking eyes fixed on Dr. Sullivan, it is cold and dark in a way that it's unnerving.**

 _15 seconds._

 **Motionless.**

 **Still staring at you.**

 _20 seconds._

Hanna checks out Emily cold appearance with a small take back. Never in the years of her knowing Emily has she ever seen a grimacing scowl as the one she's putting on right now.

 _25 seconds._

With every second passing by, Alison's smile begins to falter more and more with Emily's emotionless stare down into her eyes. Alison briefly looks down to recuperate herself then looks back up with a new game plan. Alison bites the corner bottom of her lip and cocks her head to the side with a smirk. A look at says, " _Are you seriously trying to do this right now?_ "

 _30 seconds._

Emily eyes catch the lip biting, still glowering but now intently watching.

 _35 seconds._

"Looks like someone is trying to beat her own time…" Aria mutters.

 _40 seconds._

"Looks like she just did…" Spencer murmurs right back.

 _45 seconds._

Now becoming thoroughly amused by the show Emily is putting on, Alison smile reaches up to her eyes as she gives Emily a condescending grin. The amount of sass put into such look causes her left dimple to show.

 _50 seconds._

The trademark Alison grin that is flashed when she's secretly taunting you.

 _55 seconds._

Emily's fingers softly drums against the side hems of her jeans as she quietly swallows, clenching her jaw.

 _60 seconds._

"Alright!" Dr. Sullivan slices through the tension, "I think 60 seconds is enough. Uhm-great restrain, Emily."

"Damn, Emily. I think Hanna got you confused with Spencer." Aria remarks with a stunned look.

Spencer nods her head in agreement, " _Bitch is cold-hearted_."

Hanna concernedly checks in-between the girls, Emily primarily, not commenting at all this round.

The therapist writes Emily's time down then looks up to Alison. "Alright, Alison, this is your time now. Ready…? Go."

Emily's eyes wonder as she can't bring herself to make a smile. Not even fake a smile for that matter. She bites the inside of her bottom lip as the room awaits for her to start round two.

Dr. Sullivan leans forwards out of her chair, "…Emily…? It's your turn…"

Emily peeks at the doctor through the corner of her eyes before she returns back to Alison. She widens her mouth in an attempt to smile but falls short and goes with a weak _'almost'_ smile.

"Emily, you have to give a genuine smile." Dr. Sullivan whispers in Emily's direction, only to cause Emily to sigh out and turn to her.

"Can someone else take my place? I don't want to be up here."

"You already did one half of the experiment. Just…finish up this part and you're done."

Emily rolls her eyes back to Alison and gives a forced closed mouth smile that doesn't come close to her eyes. Although the sides are curled up, there is nothing _genuine_ about it.

"You call that a smile?" Alison remarks with a straight face but all the brashness in her tone, "Even Jenna could point out how phony that was."

With all the trash-talk that's been floating around since the beginning of the experiment, the girls would have commented their two cents to add onto the flame. However, with these two, words were stuck in their throats with the amount of animosity in the air.

"I bet Jenna could point out how phony _a lot_ of things are." Emily shoots back on beat, now in a full blown staring contest with the blonde in front of her.

The girls in the room silently cringe as Dr. Sullivan decides to step in, "Okay. Change of plans." She puts down her pen and paper in her lap as she claps her hands together, "All of you guys did great." Taking their seats opposite corners from each other, Hanna looks over Emily with apprehensive eyes as Emily brushes it off. "The whole point of that experiment was to show that smiling has benefits for our hearts. Smiling during brief periods of stress may help reduce the body's stress response, regardless of whether the person actually feels happy or not."

…..

Closing out the hour group session, Dr. Sullivan thanks the girls again for coming and sees everyone out the door.

Almost everyone.

"Hey…" Hanna whispers to Emily as she hoists her purse on her shoulders.

Quickly, Emily stops the prying before it even starts, "I'll call you when I get home. Don't wait up."

Hanna nods with her eyes becoming watchful before she walks out the office. Slowly following her lead, Emily moves to the side in front of the door for a woman entering the room.

"Uhm, Dr. Sullivan?" The woman calls out.

The therapist turns around to face her assistant, "Yes?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Rogers, the parents of Adam Rogers, are here in the conference room and they are waiting for their meeting.' She informs with worry in her voice, "And just to give you a heads up…they are not the most thrilled people in the world, right now." She forces a laugh.

Dr. Sullivan eyebrows went up with remembrance smacking her in the face, "Oh yes, the meeting!" She turns back to Alison standing behind her, "Alright, so I will see you again next week."

"Yes, I-uhm- I wanted to know if you minded me using your restroom really quick?" Alison asks with a strained smile.

"Yes, yes. Go right ahead." Dr. Sullivan grants her as she walks towards the door, "Just be sure to close this door behind you when you're done."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Okay." Emily grants Dr. Sullivan first passage as she walks out the door, following after her assistant. Trailing behind to head to the exit, as soon as the two women make a left turn down another hallway, Emily circles right back around in the direction of Dr. Sullivan's office. Trying not to be seen by anyone, Emily quietly opens the door and heads into the private seemingly clean and well decorated restroom, shocking Alison as she checks over herself in the mirror.

Alison immediately twists around, "What are you doing in here?" She whispered in harsh manner, her eyes glared Emily up and down as she locked the door behind her.

Standing perfectly still, breathing without any words being thrown back, Emily stands before Alison with her face growing vague.

"This is the time you want to be _mute_?" Alison rolls her eyes and looks back into the mirror, "Get out before you get both of us in trouble."

"I hate that you make me want to do this..." Emily murmurs in a low-slung voice as she shakes her head, quickly walking over to the blonde.

"Make you do wh-"

Cutting her off with the sudden kiss, Emily grabs at Alison and pulls her close, making sure she can't escape her grasps. Pushing off the abrupt lunge, Alison extends her hands and shoves Emily's chest.

"Are you fucking _crazy_?!" She bitterly whispers, darting her ice blue eyes to search into Emily's, which is clouded darkly with lust.

"Maybe I am." With no hesitation, Emily tugs Alison into another kiss with her thumbs settling on the side of her throat and her fingers surround the back of her neck. Trying to fight back, Alison tries to stop the inevitable from happening but Emily takes control and pushes her body against hers as she stumbles backwards, eventually her back hitting the warm, brown wall. Forcing her tongue into Alison's mouth, Alison quickly loses the fight and gives into the aggression of Emily. She drops her arms and Emily presses harder into her, chest to chest. Nothing about this kiss was slow, passionate or sensual, it was fast, aggressive and dirty. Alison can feel the harshness of Emily's breathing as she tugs on her bottom lip then chases it with her tongue.

"Em...Emily...this-this isn't the place..." Alison gasps into Emily's mouth.

"No…no, you don't get to talk." Emily breathes out with a growl, pulling Alison's hair to the side and she kisses her way across the blonde's jawline and down her neck where her thumb has been pressed. The mix of emotions, adrenaline, lack of sexual interaction, and her sweet scent made Emily go crazy, unable to control herself. Switching from kissing, licking and biting various parts of her skin, Alison softly moans as she rests her head against the wall, giving Emily all the access she needed. Sliding her tongue back up to Alison's mouth, their tongues swirl around each other's as she slips a hand down and frantically fumbles for the button of Alison's jeans.

" _Waitwaitwait_ -" Alison whines as tries to stop Emily's frantic fingers with her hand. Still holding on to the side of her neck with her left hand, Emily swats away Alison's hand with her tongue still swiveling inside her mouth, determined to unbutton her pants.

Ripping them open after another second, Emily quickly bypasses the layers and glides her warm fingers into her jeans, causing Alison to gasp and rise in height from climbing onto her toes. Emily curves her two fingers as she rhythmically slides in and out of Alison with ease due to the gratifying amount of wetness that was accumulated within the few minutes of their encounter. Starting off slow, Emily nuzzles her face into Alison's neck as she moves her left hand from the blonde's neck to her leg, running her fingers up and down to induce shivers flowing up Alison's spine. Without warning, Emily lifts up Alison's left leg at the back of her knee, getting a good angle with her building stroke speed.

Alison struggles to stand up straight but all the factors were stacked up against her: Balancing on one flat foot, Emily's fingers pumping faster and faster with every passing second, and Emily's face buried in the crook of her neck with her tongue skimming her hot skin. The incredibly high amount of arousal at that moment was overwhelming.

" _Fuuuuck_..." She softly quivers with a high whining pitch. Her breathing gradually becomes shallow as she puts her arms over Emily's shoulders, taking a handful of her hair in one hand. "I'm...I'm..." Alison pants as she arches her back into Emily, "I'm gonna cum..." She hoarsely whispers, pinching her eyebrows as she leaves her mouth hanging open.

Swiping her thumb over Alison's sensitive spot, a tremulous whimper escapes her throat one last time as she throws her head back.

Silence fills the entire room causing Emily to rise her head and focus her eyes on Alison in the brink of her orgasm.

Just then a phone ringtone sounds, echoing off the walls of the restroom.

" _Cum_..." Emily scans her over with a hiss, " _Cum for me_."

 _Silence._

 _Echoing ring._

 _Silence._

 _Echoing ring._

Loudly gasping, holding tightly onto Emily's shoulders, Alison's hips jerk as her muscles tighten around Emily's fingers. No longer able to support herself, Alison leans onto Emily ever so helplessly. For a few beautiful seconds, Alison's whole body was floating on a high.

Nothing in the world matters at that moment.

Catching her breath, coming down from orgasm, Emily let's go of Alison's leg and releases her hand out of her pants.

Alison blinks repeatedly as Emily backs away from her, looking around her surroundings. "I don't believe we just did that..." Alison mutters to herself as she runs a hand through her hair. "I don't believe we just fucking did that!" She quickly buttons up her jeans, glancing up at Emily who is pumping soap into her hands and turning on the sink faucet.

As she soaps and lathers her hands, Emily turns to take a glimpse back at Alison who is looking at her phone to see who she called her a few moments ago. Emily looks back down at her hands as she scrubs her fingers and lets the hot water rinses away the soap.

Rinse away her moment of weakness.

Rinse away the shame of doing what she did in public.

In a restroom, no less.

Emily glances up at the walls and takes in her environment surrounding her. _This is a pretty nice restroom. I'll get Dr. Sullivan that._

Drying her hands with a paper towel, Emily takes another look at Alison who looks like she's texting someone. Alison looks up at Emily as she throws away her paper towel, about to say something but Emily beats her to it.

"You might want to clean yourself up before you leave." Emily says in a low, grim tone. Without anything else, she unlocks the door and swings it open, leaving Alison by herself.

...

Freshly showered as the sun began to sink under the horizon, Alison lays in her bed, unable to get her thoughts straight within herself. _What drove Emily to do what she did? How did she even get back inside the room without anyone seeing her? What did she mean by "I hate that you make me want to do this"? What...what was her whole point?_

Who, what, when, where, and how's were clouding her mind but at the background of it all...she actually enjoyed it, as bad as it was.

The rush, the touches, the energy…. they all turned her on.

She picks up her phone and opens Emily's text conversation.

 _Today 7:22pm_

 _Alison:_ Come over

Biting her nail as she watches the text send, Alison asks herself if she's ready for what's about to come.

...

Alison leads Emily up the stairs and into her room where she closes and locks the door behind them. Emily's stands in place with her hands in her pocket, as she stares vacantly at Alison's earthy tan walls. The moment she hears the click of the door lock, she turns and faces Alison with a cleft forming in between her eyebrows. Slowly approaching Emily, Alison gazing onto her before she gently kisses her on the lips.

Not kissing back, Emily stands there stiffly, staring with puzzled but concentrated eyes. "What are you doing?"

"Jason's not home and my dad is downstairs in his room. He hardly comes up here when things settle down for the night." Alison enlightens Emily with sheep eyes as her voice trails off. She leans in and places her lips on Emily's again as Emily looked at her with questionable eyes. Alison slides her hands on both sides of Emily's face, softly kissing her repeatedly, waiting for some kind of response from the other girl. After a few seconds of desire from the blonde, Emily slowly kisses her back. First with hesitation, then gradually into minor passion. Alison feels chills up her spine when Emily grips her hips, pulling her smooth, clothed body into hers as she run her tongue across Alison's top lip. Letting herself completely go, Emily places her forehead against Alison's, breathing together in unison as she walks her over to bed.

Pulling away, Alison sits on the edge of her bed, gazing up at the way the now dim lighted room shadows Emily's face, making her look like a sculpted art piece as she looks down at her. Trailing her eyes down her body, Alison reaches for the belt loop on Emily's jeans, making Emily slowly stagger towards her with the same lust in her eyes that she saw earlier in Dr. Sullivan's office.

With plans of undoing Emily's pants, Alison's hands slides over to her belt buckle and begins to unhook the leather. However, briefly stopping her motion, Emily swoops down and presses her into another lingering and gentle kiss, catching Alison's tongue as she suck on her bottom lip. Pushing her down onto the mattress, Alison scoots towards the middle of the bed, propped on her elbows as Emily hovers over her with their lips still intact.

Kicking off her shoes with her feet, Emily growls into Alison's neck, underneath her ear, "What are you wearing? You smell fucking... _delicious_."

"Honeysuckle and Jasmine..." Alison mumbles under her breath as she stretches out her neck, "Victoria's Secret."

Emily's hands glide up and down Alison's body, feeling her curves through the fabric. Gently moving her hands underneath Alison's long sleeve pajama shirt, the blonde winces at the contact of Emily's chilled hands but gradually warms them as she grinds into her. "You feel so fucking good, Alison…" Emily voice drops to a husk, dripping in hunger with every word that escapes her mouth. Alison smirks, knowing out of all the ways she's heard Emily talk to her, this version was Alison's favorite.

Moving from on top to the side of her, Emily pulls Alison as close as she can, draping her right leg over Alison's body. As they deepen the kiss, letting their tongues slide together in unison, Emily runs her hands up to Alison's hair, gripping it at the roots.

"Does Lorenzo treat you like this?" Emily asks gravelly, in between kisses.

Flickering her eyes open, Alison heart misses a beat as she reiterates what Emily just questioned. _Did she just say what I think she just said?_ Alison's sighs at the fact that Emily brought _him_ up especially at a time like this, "Emily, don't...please."

"Does he? _Huh_?" Emily kisses the corner of Alison's jaw, still stroking her hair in her grasps, "Does he pulls you in like _this_? _Making you feel wanted_?"

Not believing the sudden turn of events, Alison closes her eyes as Emily continues to the side of her neck, flicking her tongue on the groove beneath her ear. _Maybe if I say nothing, she will stop._

"Does he make you cum the way I do? Knows exactly what spots make you arch your back like I do?"

"Em-"

Emily silences Alison's attempts by kissing her again, this time more meticulously as she runs her tongue across Alison's and slowly glides it the roof of her mouth, closing in on her top lip. Snapping it back, Emily opens her eyes and peers deeply into Alison's puppy blue eyes. "Does he make love to your mouth the way I do?"

"No..." She hoarsely whimpers back, pleading with her eyes to not stop. She reaches for Emily but Emily pulls back from her. Reaching forward again for her lips, Emily leans farther back, looking down at her, her eyes veiled themselves with doubt. "Emily..." Alison begs as she smooths over Emily's cheeks with her hand. She tries to pull Emily in but she resist yet again.

Emily let's go of Alison and rolls out of the bed onto her feet.

"Em-wha?" She breathes out, "W-w-what are you doing?" Alison eyes desperately search Emily up and down as she fixes her belt and bends down to put on her shoes. "Emily…" She calls out with confusion resonating in her throat. "Emily!"

Snapping her heel into the second shoe, Emily peers up at her one last time with her grown distant eyes. She walks over, unlocks the door and sways it ajar, not caring to close it as she leaves the room.

Watching her leave with no words being able to escape her mouth, Alison stares at the open door with wide eyes and a heaving chest. With pink cheeks, swollen lips and messy hair, the blonde sits there trying to understand what just happened, waiting for the recognition to set in. She feels like a child who was taken to an amusement park and showed all these rides, even being able to hop on some but, right as the amazement is peaking, the parents make them leave without any warning. The adrenaline rush, excitement, the heart beating against your skin is quickly replaced by disorientation, anger, and tears.

Right now, Alison is that kid who got pulled out of the park.

Blinking at the door with nothing but silence suffocating her, her chin beings to quiver. She turns her head and closes her eyes to prevent herself from change of emotions that's becoming of her. Tears escape her anyway as her breathing becomes harsher with hisses.

 _Disorientation, anger and tears._

…

The next day, walking up the porch to the front door, a firm knock is sounded three times. Waiting for some kind of movement inside the house, the guest patiently remains to be answered.

-Concurrently-

"I feel like a high schooler all over again." Aubrey giggles as she rests her elbow on the passenger side window, looking at the passing houses.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Emily grins as she peeks over at Aubrey before looking back at to the road.

"You tell me? This whole _sneaking around without my parents noticing_ kind of thing. Ugh." She playful groans, "I thought I was over this shit."

Emily defends herself with a smile of disbelief, "I am not sneaking you around-"

"It's ok!" Aubrey puts her hands up in a surrendering mode as she mocks with a pout, "You're ashamed to be seen with someone like me. I get it! And to think we were friends…"

"Oh my gosh…" Emily rolls her eyes as she pulls up to the sidewalk in front of her house and puts her car in park, "I'm not ashamed. It just so happens that parents aren't home at the same time I wanted you to come over _this_ part of town."

" _Yeah, yeah, yeah_ , Fields." Aubrey waves her hand to dismiss Emily's antics, "You're lucky you're cute enough to get away with it " Laughing to herself as she unfastens her seatbelt, Aubrey sees what she thought was movement behind the columns of Emily's porch, "It looks like you have a visitor?"

Unable to see from the angle she parked at, Emily unfastens her seatbelt, takes the keys out of the ignition and grabs her phone. Opening her car door to see who Aubrey was referring to, Emily catches the appearance of who looked like…Alison?

Standing at the hood of the car, waiting for Emily to make her way around, Aubrey whispers, "If this is a bad time, I'll just come back later..." She picks up on Emily's squinted eyes at the person standing at her door.

"No, no, no." She denies as she slowly walks with the brunette, "That's just….someone, I know." She sluggishly nods her head, "A girl from my school. For a few days now people been going around the neighborhood, selling those little Girl Scout cookies. You know, to help fundraise for the school." She grimaces as she talks out of the side of her mouth as if she's telling a secret, "I didn't handle my business the first time around so she's just making her rounds again." Aubrey understandingly nods as they both approach the blonde who is walking down the porch.

" _Ah_ , Alison," Emily gives a friendly smile as she reaches into her pocket. "This will only take a moment." She softly says to Aubrey as she paces ahead.

Originally eyeing at Emily, her eyes catch the looks of Aubrey. A tanned, slim built girl, arms covered in tattoos from what she could see. Just then, it triggered a memory of watching her silly antics from the window of the tattoo shop she saw Emily in. Slightly irritated, Alison puts her sights back to Emily advancing towards her, "I-"

" _Oh no worries!_ I remember." She pulls out her wallet and skims inside, finding a twenty dollar bill. She hands it to Alison who hesitantly accepts it, confused at what going on.

"I think this should cover the treats from yesterday."

Alison's ever so slowly cocks her head at Emily as disbelief was smeared all over with the biggest slap in the face she's ever felt in her entire life. With the words and implications that came out of Emily's mouth in front of a stranger, Alison was actually stunned.

Giving the blonde her own trademark smirk, without Aubrey seeing, Emily nods her head and pats Alison on the shoulder before continuing to walk in the direction of her door. Following her behind her, Aubrey give a warming smile and small wave to Alison as she walks by her. Looking at Aubrey, still in complete shock, all Alison could do is turn around and watch Emily and her visitor walk inside her empty house.

With the door closed behind them, Alison looks at the crispy twenty dollar bill Emily handed to her. Her jaw clenched and throat tightened as the color red started seeping its way into her vision.

" _That. Fucking. Bitch_."

 **I think chapter is the longest chapter I've ever written to date. Over 6,300 words. _Wooow_** **.**

 **When I'm in my classes, I start to complain if my professors assign 6-9 pages, but here I wrote a huge whopping 15 pages. Unbelievable.**

 **Oh! Speaking of classes, mine starts next week. *Smiles but is dead inside***

 **Like I mentioned before, instead of me explaining the mindset of the characters, I'm going to leave that up for** _ **you**_ **to come up with. All I gotta say is…**

 **Spite is a pretty callous feature that we all have.**

 **Narrow-mindedness is a pretty stubborn feature that we all have.**

 **A question that might come up: "Why can't Alison just leave Lorenzo and go with Emily?" Think about it, you have two people in your ears. One is a childhood friend who probably is just as psychologically damaged as you are but wants to be with you. And the other is saying all the right things and wants to protect you with everything they have and because they are slightly older with the right job and support system, it sounds more idealistic. You're completely torn between two people, knowing if you pick one, you'll most likely lose the other. For some people, the choice is crystal clear. But for others, especially someone who hasn't experienced "true love" yet, it's kind of confusing and brain racking. Therefore, frustration!**

 **Sidenote regarding the show: We are finally going to find out who Charles is after 5 years and it looks like Charles is going to kill himself and the girls are sympathetic towards him?**

 **UHM? His backstory better be the most tragic thing in the world. So much so that Oprah, Dr. Phil,** _ **and**_ **Dr. Drew want to cover it as a headlining story. I can't see anything justifying all the things he has done. Sorry, I can't and I won't.**

 **Also Drunk PLL Moms need a spinoff like now.**

 **Review, my pretties! :)**


	9. Chapter 9: If You Can't See The Problem…

**Ok, so I _know_ this chapter was long overdue but, as a bonus to you guys, binge reading is upon you :)**

CHAPTER #9: If You Can't See The Problem…

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

"Nice…" Aubrey follows behind Emily as they both walk into Emily's kitchen, taking in from the biggest pieces of furniture to the smallest of detail on the walls. "You have a nice place here, Filipino. Can't say I'm surprised _but_ this… this is nice."

Emily begins to blush, "Thanks, I-"

 _KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_

Emily and Aubrey both turn in the direction of the sudden loud knocking. "Uhmmm…" Emily slowly turns to Aubrey with her eyes still on the door, "I'll be _right_ back. Make yourself comfortable. Uh-If you're hungry or thirsty, my kitchen is open."

"Okay," Aubrey gives her a polite smile.

Still with her keys in her hand, Emily begins to twirl them nonchalantly as she walks towards her door. Already knowing who it could be behind it, she quickly opens the door and steps out. Before she had the chance to use the breath in her lungs to utter a sound, a crumpled twenty dollar bill was thrown in her face.

" _FUCK you._ " Alison seethes out with all her pent up aggression husking her voice. Telling herself prior that she would not make a scene, all her inhibitions went flying out the window the moment she saw Emily's face again. "You're going to play that shit?!" Alison walks up into Emily's space with her voice starting to rise as a thick neck vein begins to appear. "Paying me fucking money like I'm some type of whore? You have fucking _BALLS."_ Alison wrathfully jabs her finger into Emily's chest with every word spewing out, _"_ You have _FUCKING BALLS._ "

"Stop…"Not allowing Alison to get physical with her, Emily deflects Alison's finger thrusts by trying to grab her hands, " _Stop!_ You're not doing this here."

"Fuck you, I'm not going _anywhere_." Alison rips her hands away from Emily, getting into her face once again, "You fucking implied that I was a _slut_? For what?" Alison points at Emily's house, "For that _bitch_ in your house? You're trying to put on a show for _her_? Because I can help if you want a _show_!" Alison side steps Emily as she faces her front door, "Let's all discuss who Emily Fields is! Because I think it's important for _Hot Wheels_ in there to know that _'yesterday's treats'_ was initiated by _Emily_ when she bum rushed me in the bathroom and fuc-"

Biting her lip in frustration, Emily instantly grabs Alison's arm, pulling her away from her house.

"Don't fucking touch me." Alison tries to wrangle of out Emily's grasp but the bear hold she had on her was a bit too strong for her to escape, " _Get off me_!" Emily drags her over to her vehicle where she opened the passenger door, letting go of Alison.

"Get in." Emily points in a low, serious tone.

" _Fuck you_."

" _GET_. _IN_."

Alison angrily gets into Emily's passenger seat as Emily walked around her car, getting into the driver's seat. "You got some fucking nerve."

" _I_ got some fucking nerve?" Alison turns in her seat, facing Emily with her hands on her chest, "I GOT SOME FUCKING NERVE?! You-!" Alison stops herself with her head hung low, shaking out an angry laugh, "You know what?" She lowers her voice as she tries to regain her composure, "I gave you fucking chances. I've allowed you to be a _dick_ towards me, why? Because Dr. Sullivan was all like,

" **Let people in, Alison."**

" **Give people chances, Alison"**

" **In order to start new, you have to do** _ **all this shit**_ **, Alison".**

"But now I know why I had such a wall up! Why I didn't allow people to fuck with me! To protect myself from motherfuckers like _you_!"

"Motherfuckers like _me_?!" Emily shot back with wide eyes and a hand on her chest.

"YES." Alison leans closer to Emily with the fire in her eyes, "Mother. Fuckers. Like. _You_! You gave me a _fucking_ 20 dollar bill and made it look like I was your bitch. Why, _Huh_?! To impress that girl you're sneaking around with? What-you-you're fucking her?"

"You're fucking Lorenzo." Emily spits back with a shrug, looking out into the street.

"….I'm fucking _Lorenzo_...?" Alison stares at Emily unblinking, scanning over Emily's detached attitude. "You're a piece of shit…..And I'm going to tell your little girlfriend." On beat, Alison immediately swings open the passenger side door and hopped out in such a hurry that she didn't close the door behind her. Following suit, completely caught off guard, Emily instantaneously jumps out of her vehicle, sprinting after the blonde. Treading much ground, almost halfway up the driveway, Emily bear hugs Alison from behind, lifting her up and spinning her in the opposite direction away from her house.

"Let me go, dammit!" Alison snarls as she tries to kick and scratch her way out of Emily's grasp again.

"Not here." Emily growls as she puts Alison down. "You can bitch at me when we finish this conversation later."

"Wha-f-finish this later?" Alison's eyes widen in angry amusement as she fixes her wrinkled clothes, "Fuck you. I don't want to see your face or hear what _bullshit_ that's going to come out of your mouth. This conversation _is_ finished."

"No, it's not. I'm not going to allow you to make a fucking scene out here for the neighbors to talk."

"Oh but you can make a scene-"

" _I said_ …" Emily cuts her off with a low growl, "we will finish this _later_."

"And _I said_ fuck you, Emily." Alison glares down Emily before walking away from her.

Emily sighs as she watches Alison march away. Looking left and right in both directions of her street, Emily looks to see if anyone had witness their mini fight, putting her eyes back on Alison who is already halfway down the street. Emily runs her hand through the root of her hair, stopping at the base of her neck as she slowly strides back to her house, picking up the waddled up twenty in the process.

…..

Emily and Aubrey sat outside on Emily's back deck swing, as they both gently rock back and forth, talking about whatever came to their minds. Throughout their conversations, in the back of Emily's mind, she couldn't stop thinking about Alison blowing up on her the way she did. The coldness in her eyes, the rage that lied on her tongue, and the aggression that ran through the pulsating vein that stuck out on her neck. During the whole thing, she's internally grateful that Aubrey didn't ask about it or wasn't there to witness/hear it as it went down.

"Who's this?" Emily points to the comic like cartoon of a man leaning back in a chair with a phone on his ear, smiling for a pose on her right forearm.

Looking down at the art piece, Aubrey nods her head with a smile, "That's my oldest brother, Gabriel. Aka my best friend in the _entire world_."

Aubrey's smile makes Emily smile as she continues to question, "What's the story behind it? Just got it just to get it?" She ask as she sips her glass of lemonade.

"You could say that. We're eight years apart and there is only two of us. Gabriel and Aubrey." Aubrey sighs, " _God_ , I adored my brother growing up. And still do. He was like…" Aubrey lifts her hand in the air, trying the find the words, "The perfect big brother. Like the kind you would see in the movies, the ones girls dream for. Always looking out for me, never too strict but wasn't laid back neither. Just… _perfect_." Taking in the recollection of her brother, Aubrey smiles to herself as she's flooded with memories, "He used to be in this band back when he was in college. I was about 14-15 at the time. He played the guitar and was _good_ at it. He knew exactly how to wind that bad boy up to make it cry with every chord he struck. I was so mesmerized by the way he played that I, trying to be like him, decided to pick up the guitar and attempted to learn how to play." Aubrey giggles to herself as she gently pushed the porch swing with the tips of her toes. "Most girls try to impress their father or mother but not me. I wanted to impress my brother. Whenever he was proud of me…that's all I really needed. So here I was," Aubrey fixes her hand position to look like she's holding an imaginary guitar, "a small teen trying to figure out where my fingers are supposed to go and how to strum with a pick. The first few go rounds I was bad, like _really_ bad. But I kept trying and trying and trying. Fast forward about two years, I'm 17, nearing the end of high school and he joined the Marines. Nobody in my family went military so this was a pretty big thing. Not too long after, he get sent overseas a couple of times. You know how emotional those times get."

Emily nods as she remembers clearly how those restless days of wanting to be with her father but couldn't because of the calling of the wars he was drafted into. "Those times were never easy…"

"Nope. Whenever there was a chance to communicate, we would _always_ talk. Even if it was for 30 seconds, we would always talk. So, trying to show him how much I've been improving on the guitar, whenever we had a good amount of phone time, I would put the phone down and play a quick tab of whatever song I learned. Like for example, he's really into the whole 80's rock scene, one of his favorite groups is Journey. Especially their song " _Who's Crying Now_ ". He would _always_ play it. So, one phone conversation, I surprised him and played him the guitar solo from the song." Aubrey laughs to herself, going back into time, reliving the whole entire moment, "I practiced my _ass_ off learning it so when I would actually play it, it would be badass. Man…I was _sooo_ nervous! I felt like I was going to play in front of the group themselves!"

"That's how big it was to you?" Emily smiles, completely dissolved into Aubrey's storytelling. Since she's met her, Aubrey has never really talked about her past or her family that much so hearing about her brother is a pretty big surprise to her.

"Yes!" Aubrey grins from ear to ear, gushing like she's telling a story about meeting her favorite celebrity, "Yes it was. So I played it for him, the whole solo, and when I was done, the first words that came out of his mouth was, "…. _Motherfuckin'_ _Aubrey_ _Garcia!_ Are you fucking kidding me?! Are you _fucking kidding me?!_ " She mocks in her best impression of her brother, furrowing her eyebrows with an exaggerated drop in her voice. "Then at that exact moment, he told me that as he was " _fangirling_ ", one of his fellow squad members snapped a picture of him." She extends her forearm for Emily to get a good look at the recreated moment. A young solider in his uniform on a stationary phone, leaning back in his chair, smiling at the camera with a wide grin in great detail for a small rendition sketch on her arm. Underneath in cursive writes the words, " _MF'in Aubrey Garcia!"_. Just how his first words were.

"That's is amazing…. Everything about it is…amazing…" Emily runs her delicately finger across the tattoo before looking up at her, "Where is he now? Is he stationed within the state?"

"Nope." Aubrey rubs the nape of her neck as she changes her sights from the tattoo to Emily's backyard. "He committed suicide two years ago."

Emily freezes in place as she watches Aubrey suck in air and lean back into the swing. Making a vague sound in the back of her throat, Emily face sagged into a frown. "I'm so sorry, Aubrey…"

Aubrey glanced over at Emily's regretful grimace through the squint of her eyes, nodding her head slowly, "Its ok. I've had my months of torture. Of confusion and depression. But this small thing right here," Aubrey looks down at her arm, "This brings me back to when days were good. That day he told me that he was so proud to be my brother. And when I think of that….I think of when days were good."

Emily face took on a measured look as silence quickly sat in between them. Sometimes the thought of her father going overseas and coming back covered in a flag scares her every time he's gone. However, the thought of having a family member survive the battlefield, only to kill themselves at home is an eerie feeling that she would hate for anyone to deal with.

"But enough about _me_ " Aubrey's flip switches as she eagerly turns her body to face Emily, "What's the story behind _your_ little tattoo?"

Emily runs her hands under her hair to softly rub the still visible henna behind her ear, "Well it definitely doesn't hold up to your Nobel Peace Prize of a story you have." Emily awkwardly laughs, "Uhmm…It's really just a statement to myself. The broken heart is my past and the bandage is the indication that I will heal and will keep moving."

"Can I see it real quick?" Aubrey asks, curious to see how it looks still after time has passed. Getting Emily's approval, Aubrey leans over and brushes Emily's dark copper hair to the side in full view of her art work. "Wow. Whoever did this has magical hands." The brunette tenderly grazes her finger behind Emily's ear, smirking to herself as she mentally boasts her expertise.

"Yep, she really does-" Not realizing how close Aubrey's face was to her side of her neck, Emily swiftly turns her face just to be inches away from Aubrey's face.

"Hi, there…" Aubrey smiles through her husked, honeyed voice.

Both holding their positions, not moving, Emily gazes into Aubrey's hazel deep set eyes almost as if they're inviting her in. Flickering her eyes to her lips then back to her eyes. They both slowly lean in for a small kiss.

Aubrey being the first one to separate after a few seconds, she looks back at Emily, "You're not seeing anybody, right?" She whispers with an arched his eyebrow. "Because I don't want this to be one of those mistakes-"

"No." Emily shakes her head, cutting her off. "I'm not in a relationship with anyone."

Aubrey eyes became a little watchful as she back away from Emily's personal space. "And you said you're graduating, right?"

"Yes," Emily giggles as she straightened her posture, snapping herself out of the small daze she was in.

"I'm just asking," The brunette defends herself. "A pedophile isn't that great of a characteristic when applying for jobs." Aubrey teases causing Emily to playfully push her to the side. "Pedo Aubrey isn't suiting at all."  
…..

After a small hangout, Emily drops Aubrey off to her car at the Parlor before chauffeuring her way to Alison's house. Although the big fight they had hours prior, she knows that she has to at least get some closure from it. Will Alison accept her in once she gets there? She doesn't know but all she could say is at least she tried.

Pulling up to Alison's house with nobody home, Emily sits in the driver's seat as she cuts the ignition. Scanning the property -a ritual she's been doing since the incident- Emily sees no sign of life anywhere. Since the dollhouse, there would always be a little extra chatter because of the assigned police but since there hasn't been any movement from A, they've been pulled from babysitting and off to solve other cases. Most people would be scared with the lack of supervision after a major trauma but Emily didn't mind. With the police following her everywhere she went, _she_ felt like the criminal.

Leaving her car before anyone decided to come home, Emily walks up to the front knock and rings the doorbell.

 _Silence._

Leaning to the side, squinting her eyes through the blinds of the living room, Emily rings the doorbell once more.

 _Silence._

After the repeated silence, she pulls her phone from her back pocket and dials the first three number of Alison's number before the phone automatically shows Alison's contact. Emily hits the call button as she turns her back to the door with an annoyed sigh.

 _Ring…  
Ring…  
Ring…  
Ring…_

"Hi, this Is Alison DiLaurentis. I'm not at my phone right now but if you-"

 _Redial._

 _Ring….  
Ring….  
Ring…._

"Hi, this is Ali-"

 _Redial._

 _Ring…  
Ri-_

"What do you want?" An agitated voice on the other line abruptly answers.

"Let me in, I'm outside."

"Go to hell."

"Already visited. Didn't like it. Now open the door, Alison."

Hearing complete silence from the other end, Emily pulls the phone back to look at the screen only to find that the phone call has been disconnected. She turns back to the door and waits to be let in.

Standing there for 20 excruciating long seconds, Emily becomes restless and repeatedly rings the doorbell to get Alison's attention.

" _STOP._ " Alison swings open the front door, with her eyes burning through Emily as the last ring resonates through her house.

Emily crosses her arms in front of her as she patiently rocks on her heel with an expected look challenging Alison."….So are you going to let me in?"

"Are you going to throw another $20 at me?" Alison spits back as she glares at Emily up and down, crossing her arms with a lean. "Since that's apparently all I'm worth to you."

Emily sighs as she rolls her eyes, "Oh my gosh, it was a _joke_." She exaggerates the word with annoyance.

"A fucking jo-" Alison stops herself and nods her head with a flick of her middle finger before she closes her front door. Jumping to action, Emily immediately sticks her foot between the door and the frame. Giving up the pushing door fight, Emily was able to get through and close the door behind her with Alison walking to her living room, bothered that Emily is there. "What do you want?" She turns around to face Emily. "What could you possibly want from me?"

"You want to bitch at me?" Emily extends her arms besides her, looking in both directions, "Here's your chance."

"Why are you so hell bent on treating me like shit?" Alison asks. Emily lowers her arms with a sigh, cocking her head to the side as she looks up to the ceiling, "I mean, when I first see you after everything, you were cold to me. Then I go to your house, you…spazz out on me. Followed by even more coldness. _Then!_ Then we upgrade to bathroom fucking and all kinds of sexual activity just for you to play me in front of _subway graffiti_ over there."

Eyeing the living room table with a silver plate of four shot glasses, a small ice container and a glass of bourbon, Emily swiftly walks towards the beverage to get herself contented. "Absolute honesty?" Emily asks looking down as she twists the cap of the glass and pours herself a small amount of alcohol into her glass.

Watching Emily help herself, Alison furrows her eyebrows, "Since when did you become a drinker?"

"I've always been. Since you left, or I mean _died_ , I've always had a thing for alcohol." Emily raises the glass at eye level as if she inspecting the drink, "Although, I do say my tastes have definitely matured over the years,"

Alison shakes her head with her mouth slightly open at the sight of Emily sitting down comfortably in her single couch chair. "This is so out of character. You are so out of character. You seem to be the only one that has a problem with me. Out of all the people, you have a problem with me. Spencer talks to me, Aria...she has acknowledged me, Hanna is doing her own thing which I respect, but you." Alison points at Emily casually listening to her speak as if nothing is wrong, " _You_ are the one that has the biggest issue with me. Somebody that I thought I could talk to after this whole entire fiasco, you decided to flip the switch on me."

" _Well_ ….I've been doing a lot of thinking. _You know_ …It's something you have a lot of time to do when you've been kidnapped and thrown into solitary." Slowly sipping her glass, with her eyes painted on the blonde in front of her, Emily raises her eyebrows as she swallows. "Doing a little math, trying to understand what the hell is going on with me. And no matter what equation I solve, they all have the same common dominator." Emily raises her glass in the direction of Alison, "…. _You_."

" _Ooooh_! Perfect!" Alison sarcastically replies as she throws up the 'okay' sign, "Soooo, you're going to throw tantrums and treat me any which you want because of because you're _feelings_ are hurt."

"My feelings..." Emily chuckles to herself, looking down at the glass she slowly swirls from side to side, "Typical Alison fashion. To think that everything revolves around her. _Well_!" Emily smiles looking up at Alison with a non-trusting grin, "Since you love the attention being on you all the time, let me shine the light a little bit brighter on how you ruined my life. Let's see…. _You are_ the reason my perfect record is tarnished. _You are_ the reason I cannot swim anymore. _You are_ the reason a car, _a full size car_ , flew through my living room almost killing my mother. Oh yeah," Emily snaps, "can't forget the whole kidnapped and tortured for a month bit. _You_ are the sole reason all of my life has gone to _shit_."

"You're acting like for the all that time, I've been in fucking Havana beach with my feet up being fed grapes by the pool boy!" Alison leans in to Emily, defending herself from being painted like the compete villain, "I think you have forgotten where my residence has been as of recently. I have been in orange, itchy jumpsuit inside of a jail cell, sitting there and _rotting_ like a _criminal_. I had to go to trial for a murder charge, I _didn't commit_ and was found guilty! I was tried as an adult at the age of 17!"

"Your actions put you there! You were the lone reason why you went through that!"

"Yeah and the _same_ shit applies to you!" Alison retorts back on beat, "Boo hoo! Woe is me! You're _always_ playing the victim card!" Alison yells out of frustration and anger as she throws her hand in the air pacing back and forth in front of Emily, "You act like you was forced to go through that torture for two years. _Poor me_!" She scrunches her face and mocks with her face beginning to redden at a slow but visible pace, "Poor Emily! Let the whole world stop and let Emily sulk while she blames everyone around her. Because she can't take responsibility of what _she_ has done." Alison closes her eyes as she tries to catch her breath. She runs a hand through her blonde hair, "I have taken responsibility of initially exposing you guys to the danger, yes. But then from the moment I left, _you_ took your fate into your own hands." She jabs her finger in Emily's direction, "I'm _not_ going to let you drag me through the mud because of _your_ choices. Ok?! My mom was _killed_. She was _murdered_. I'm pretty sure that has surpassed _anything_ that has ever happened to you. I lost my mother and now I'm sitting here looking at your face." Alison huffs out with her palms extended to Emily who is looking at Alison with narrowed eyes and a mouth slowly taking sips of her cold drink, "Looking at you complaining! _Whining_! Because I'm the bad guy, _right_? I was a bully. I won't deny that. I _was_ a bully. But I was also 15 _fucking_ years old. I have changed since then. Everything in your life is on you. So _no_ , I'm _not_ the reason why you cannot swim. No, I'm _not_ the reason why your mother was almost killed. _You_ are. You are the reason why everything bad has happened to you. You had a choice and took the wrong one. Not my fucking problem. "

Alison breathes in and out as if she just ran, knowing she just said a mouthful. Watching Emily's seemingly careless demeanor only makes Alison shake her head at her, "And the fact that you want a relationship…? With all this…?" Alison rises her hand up and down, dismissing Emily completely, "No way would we have lasted."

"Oh, we _could_ _have_ lasted." Emily finally responds with bits of confidence stripped out of her from that verbal lashing, "But you're blind to see what's right in front of you."

" _What_?" Alison rolls her eyes as she throws her hand up in the air out of irritation, "What exactly am I missing? Because I _tried_ , ok?! I tried to please you and tend to your complaining ways but I'm done. I'm so done with you and this entire thing! But you remember _this_ , I was _always_ there for you."

Emily coughs in the middle of swallowing her sip. Her eyes flare up towards Alison, "When exactly were you there, Alison?"

Alison is rendered speechless from Emily's blindside. She goes to open her mouth but only fragments of broken words escape her tongue. After sputtering of noises, Alison finally finds her voice, "Are you fucking _drunk_?! Like are you actually fucking serious right now?!" The blonde blinks uncontrollably as she shakes her head, "When you almost died in the barn! Y-Y-Y-You being sawed in half in-in Ravenswood! I was always fucking there! Just because you didn't see me doesn't mean I was never there."

"But you're not here now!" Emily points downwards as she holds her nearly finished glass, "I need you and you're not here!"

"Just because I said I don't want to jump in a relationship with you so quickly?! Just because I need time, I'm not here now?!" Alison extends her arms outwards, "Times have changed! I have changed! I'm not 15 anymore, Emily!"

"And I can almost _prove_ how that's a lie." Emily stands up, downing her last remaining drops from her glass before she puts it down on the table.

"And how the hell can you _possibly_ prove that?" Alison crosses her arms and changes up her stance defensively.

"Everything." Emily takes slow steps towards her, " _Every. Single. Thing_ about us is a secret. Ever since we were younger, everything we do is behind closed doors."

"That's how private things are done." Alison breathes out as she rolls her eyes pathetically at Emily, "Away from the public eye. That's why it's called _private._ "

"Don't play stupid, Ali. You know damn well what I'm talking about." The skin around Emily's eyes drew tight, _"Jason is gone and my dad is downstairs._ " Emily mocks Alison's tone from the night before as she steps closer, "This entire time that we've ever been romantic with each other, you've never involuntarily told people about me. Now your mother is a free card, but since you came back, you never told _your dad_ about me. You've never even told _Jason_ about me. And if you would have had it your way, none of our friends would have known about us. Because that's all I am to you. A dirty little secret."

"Like you don't have dirty secrets of your own," Alison claws back, not letting Emily to corner her in, "You think I don't know? You want to be _up and arms_ because an older guy is interested in me when, before _Beat Street_ over there, you have _failed_ to remember that _you_ , _Miss Emily Fields_ , was in a relationship with a married woman?" Emily crinkled her eyes at the blonde while Alison gives her a knowing smirk, knowing she's going to gain control of this conversation, "Who…" Alison looks around before she whispers, "I don't even see around. What's wrong? She dropped your ass for her husband the minute you became a convict?" Alison challenges Emily. With no response coming from the taller girl but a clenched jaw and beetled forehead. "Please tell me Emily. Why is it that every girl you've touched has fled from you?"

"I don't know, why are you still here?" Emily looks at her watch, "Shouldn't you be with Lorenzo right now? Sneaking you around from probably a wife and family he has somewhere else?"

A demeaning little half-smile curved on Alison's lips, "You are so weak, Emily. Is that all you can resort to? Using Lorenzo as a comeback? Why the hell do you always bring him up? Every conversation we have, you put him right in the middle of it. Why?" Alison takes a daring step towards Emily, "Do you like him or something…?"

"Why are you so caught up on him?" Emily nonchalantly shrugs at Alison's attempt to get under her skin, "I'm just asking a serious question, Alison. Out of _all_ the guys in Rosewood, Pennsylvania, _why him? Why Lorenzo_? He does _not_ care about you."

"Oh, but you do right?" Alison narrows her icy blue eyes, "All of this….This is out of care? Adding to my stress?"

"Awww." Emily bends her knees getting down to Alison's eye level. She points a taunting finger in Alison's face, "You _like him!"_ Alison swats Emily's hand but all Emily does is smile and put her hands on her knees as if she was talking to a child. "I bet he told you he cares about you and says he's going to protect you and nothing is going to happen to you while he's there, right?" Emily voice turning into a mocking baby voice as she presses on, "And I hope that he does! _Yes I do!_ I hope he comforts you at night, making you feel safe in his arms. And _you know what_? As a bonus, I hope you guys have sex. I hope you have amazing, _mindblowing_ sex to "prove his love to you"." Emily nods her head with a grin as Alison looks at her as if she had lost her mind, "Then, after _allllll_ that, I hope he drops off the face of the earth." Emily's voice returns back to normal as she straightens back up, crossing her arms with a smirk on her lips, "I hope he never calls you again. Leaves you stranded. _Abandoned_. Leaves you so fucking heartbroken that you don't know what to do with yourself, you _dumbass_." Emily laughs, "And when he does, don't you _dare_ call me. Because all you're going to get from me is a fucking laugh and an end call."

" _Hmm_." Alison tilts her head to the side as she pursed her lips, finding it humorous that Emily is trying to get to her. "Sounds like someone is speaking from experience. I mean…You would know exactly how that feels right? Let's see. You had sex with Paige and she fled to the other side of the country. You had sex with Maya and her ass ran away from you."

"Don't you fucking dare-" Emily's voice dropped with her eyes cautioning her to watch herself.

"And the rest of them," Alison continues on, ignoring Emily's warning, "you didn't have to even touch them. They just _left_." Alison makes a face of fake concern, "Now I'm just doing the countdown to when _doodle art_ over there will catch a clue and run for this hills. Because sadly she has no idea she messing with a cowardly, overly sensitive-"

As Alison started to rip into Emily yet again, her voice slowly drifts father and farther into the background until it was silent.

Until she was no longer heard.

Time seemed to stand still and in that singular moment, Emily could see that everything she had endured with this girl up until this very point.

Alison stood there protecting her defenses, standing only a foot away. Emily stood at an angle towards her, her head and shoulders angled to the right but she faced the blonde directly and her head tilted upwards towards Emily, her electric blue eyes with such stoniness but at the same time, with a small mocking twinkle that could be missed if you didn't catch it.

Her pouty lips curled up in a smirk, moving to create meaningless words.

Alison's blonde hair fell over her shoulders and across her collarbones. Her chest was heavying with every other word and with parts of her black bra peeked through the thin fabric of her white tank top. Emily's eyes trailed down her stomach and circled around her curvy hips, tracing an outline down her legs and back upwards, settling her brown eyes on the patterned fabric of the blue and pink cotton shorts accenting her beautiful, tanned thighs.

Emily breathed in and feel the heightened senses within her, the intensity of anger turning into arousal. She could almost taste the sultry aroma of flowers, anticipation, and sex.

In that moment, the last barrier within Emily broke and she gave in to the darkness.

Once again.

"-Is that all you're good for? …Huh?"

Without hesitation, Emily dives into Alison, temporary forgetting where they stood against each other. Desperately grasping onto Alison's face, Emily begins with feverish kisses, letting her tongue dip into her. Caught up in the intensity of the moment, Alison aggressively slams her body against Emily's as Emily forcibly tongues her down. Crouching down for a brief second, Emily swoops Alison off her feet with the blonde immediately wrapping her legs around her waist. Knowing that running upstairs wasn't feasible and that the their current location, the living room, was the only space available, Emily staggers with Alison hot body heaving against hers and power-bombs her onto the couch. With Emily on top, pushing into her with Alison's legs still wrapped around her, Emily's hands frantically roams Alison's warm to the touch skin, caressing her sides and hips until she glides her way to Alison's thighs. She felt out of control. Out of control of controlling her temptations but very much of controlling how she wants Alison at that exact moment.

Tasting the brief mixtures of Emily and the whiskey on her tongue, the whole overwhelming arousal she had a few seconds ago started fading drastically. Breaking the kiss between them, Emily immediately went to Alison's neck as she slides her hands up her small shorts.

"Emily, stop," Alison lets out a soft groan.

Ignoring Alison's small attempt at ending this fevered hook up, Emily lifts her head up and pushes her tongue back into Alison's mouth, not realizing how considerably low Alison's response is compared to before. Sliding her tongue against Alison's bottom lips before she latches onto it, Emily sucks her lip as she dips her fingers into the waistband of her shorts.

" _Emily_. _Stop_."

"Give this to me, Ali." Emily softly pleads with nothing but sweet innocence in her voice.

 _Ali._

With their constant bickering and back and forth, Emily always referred to her as "Alison" if the replacement of the word "bitch" didn't slip out. But the way Emily would say Alison's name was always in a cold tone but hearing how softly she referred her to Ali only during sex or attempted intimate moments gave Alison more of a reason to end things.

"No, Emily." Alison grabbed Emily's wrist to prevent her from moving any farther. Getting frustrated at Alison restricting her, Emily tries to wrangle free but Alison tightens her grip. " _Emily_ " Alison deepens voice causing Emily to look her in her eyes. "I said _no_."

"You want to go to your room...?" Emily softly asks as she searches into Alison's eyes, trying to understand why she would want to stop so suddenly.

" _No._ I don't want to do this _period_." Alison reads Emily's expression hanging above her. It wasn't angry, narrowed or cold. It was...the opposite. Her brown eyes and whole demeanor looked acquitted and cooled.

"C'mon, Alison..." Emily ducks her head but Alison pushes Emily's chest away and tries to unravel her legs from under Emily on top of her. After a few moments of getting untangled, Alison gets from under Emily and fixes her clothes as she gets off of the couch.

"I'm not doing this. _This_..." She points at the couch with a sigh, "Just three minutes ago we were at each other's throats. But whenever you feel like it, you can try and do this. You-you're..." Alison dejectedly shakes her head as she runs a hand through her hair once again. Trying to find the words that won't come to her, Alison exhales, placing her eyes on Emily sitting on the couch in front of her, "Ever since the dollhouse, it's like you came back wired differently and I can't handle that...I can't handle you belittling me, making feel everything is my fault and I'm insensitive. You come at me angry all the time until we are screwing. And even then, I got burned from you twice."

Emily stared at Emily with her eyebrow furrowed and her mouth slightly open, trying to understand how everything changed so quickly.

"I can't do this with you. I….." Alison looks down at her feet, softly making patterns on the rug, avoiding Emily's eyes for a moment before she flips her hair out of her face, looking back to Emily. "I want you to leave."

Becoming speechless from Alison kicking her out, Emily closes her eyes as she shaking her head unbelievably. "You are serious? You're kicking me about because I'm-I-I-I'm-I'm-I was aroused by you?" Emily finally spits out after her stuttering to the preposterous logic.

"You're not _aroused_ by me in a loving way. You're _aroused_ by me because of your _anger_ for me!" Alison laughs a laugh that has no humor but just absurdity. "That's a fucking toxic relationship and I don't want it."

Finally getting down from her sudden endorphin high and actually understanding the words coming out of her mouth and not gawking how the shape of her mouth, Emily tries to make her case but is left with empty sounds. "Wait. So I-"

"Don't call me anymore, don't come by for unexpected visits..." Not wanting to hear what Emily has to say, Alison walks out of the living to the direction of the front door, unlocks it and holds it open for Emily. "Just _leave_."

"Are you fucking serious?" Emily rises up from the couch, beginning to approach the blonde.

"I am fucking serious. If you can't see the problem with this then you need to realize that _you_ are the problem and that you need to leave. I already have enough issues on my plate, I don't need another one."

Making two black vertical lines between her eyes, Emily stands to Alison, looking down upon her.

" _Go_." Alison impatiently extends her hand out the door, motioning Emily to her vehicle. "Get out and go find some help because you trying to dump your world of problems on me isn't happening."

Looking out to her car then back at Alison, Emily slowly nods, pouting out her lips, "Alright..." Emily responds back gravelly before she unhurriedly steps out of Alison's front door and down her porch stairs. "Oh!" Emily turns around as she hits the last step, "Make sure you delete me out of your phone while you're at it. Since _you're_ the one always pathetically asking me to come over while daddy's not home, _hmm_?" Emily calls out with a despised look before she turns back around, unlocking her car door. Not dropping down to Emily's level and yelling back outside, Alison took all the maturity in her and closed the door.

 **Yikes.**

 **What were the words of Alison at one time? "Oh, sweetie. Girls fight much dirtier than boys."**

 **When your pride, ego or emotions are comprised and/or threatened, depending who you are, you will lash out. Kind of how cats react when their back is pressed up against a wall. They will claw their way out of that situation, inflicting pain on others just to keep themselves safe. That's pretty much what we do. However, sometimes you don't realize the bigger picture of your actions because hindsight is _always_ 20/20.**

 **Well! On the bright side, it looks like you're survived the thunderstorm. The cloudy skies are soon to disappear….**


	10. Chapter 10: Vulnerability

CHAPTER #10: Vulnerability

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

When you have a friend, someone you know, siblings, and/or even coworkers,

You're prone to get into a fight at least once.

Some fights aren't even fights, just a disagreement.

Some fights are mere bickers and can get over with the passing of a few hours.

Some fights can get personal.

Some fights can get emotional.

Some fights…

Become _those_ fights.

Fights where lines have been crossed, double crossed, and just plainly disregarded.

Fights where things were said just out of the heat of the moment.

Fights where you want to erase the other person's existence completely because you are completely and utterly done.

It doesn't seem to make sense.

You used to be best friends with someone,

But now you can't go a day without fighting.

They could say something that triggers you — you feel attacked or devalued — and you react:

Maybe you yell,

Slam doors,

Storm off.

Or

You shut down and refuse to continue the conversation.

Looking back, it may be hard to tell how you even got into the argument in the first place.

It might have been something very subtle that made you see red:

A smirk,

Rolled eyes,

A certain body posture,

Or tone of voice.

In the split-second you picked up on a message, you simply reacted.

Unfortunately, your own signature response to the threat you perceive coming from your partner is likely to be the exact thing that drives him or her crazy, whether you say something hurtful, or flee the battlefield and leave your partner feeling abandoned.

It's a vicious cycle.

 _Well, that's something Dr. Sullivan would say, right?_

 _That psychology mumbo jumbo?_

 _-Sighs-_

 _Here's what I say:_

 _Cut the science._

 _You have to do what you have to do._

 _And that's it._

After their last argument, Emily and Alison really seemed to hold true their words. Normally when they have a debacle, they'll see each other again some time later. Either one of them would cave in or the act of the universe would put them in each other's paths. But with this fight, it seemed to be really over. In Emily's eyes, she is over it. Over everything that was senseless and backwards. If Alison wanted to completely disband everything they've ever had, she won't stop her.

 _That's what Alison does anyway. She runs so I'm not surprised. I'm about to go into college, so I really don't need to put up with indecisiveness. She goes one way and I'll go another._

 _[Alison DiLaurentis Contact Deleted]_

 _Fine with me._

With senior year slowly coming to an end, Emily has been doing just that; her days have getting more and more routine.

Wake up, go to school, homework, friends, dinner, and then sleep.

On the weekends: school, homework, and friends were replaced with Aubrey. Anytime Aubrey was in town, something would be sacrificed. Now, nobody knew about Aubrey. Not Emily's friends and not her parents. It wasn't that she was " _ashamed_ ", she just wanted to keep something private for once in her life without A or anyone trying to broadcast and ruin things.

And what she's realized so far, Aubrey was a good thing.

 **Mikey, the young parlor owner, walks from the back of the parlor to the front, polishing down a water bottle, only to be greeted by Aubrey behind the front desk and Emily at the far end opposite side with an open binder and a few papers scattered out.**

 **"I'm about to make a quick run. I should be back before my 2:30 appointment." Mikey announces as he shoots the empty bottle into the trash. Putting his sights onto Aubrey, he catches Emily in the corner, unknowing she was there. "Damn! You're back** _ **again**_ **, Emily?" He laughs as he grabs his keys from the front desk drawer on the right side of Aubrey, "Any longer and I'm going to have to add you to the payroll and send you a check."**

 **"You might as well update the employee list," Aubrey leans back into the black office chair as she grabs a small red stress ball, "Hire her as my administrative assistant." She smirks as she throws the ball at Emily who barely catches it with her reflexes.**

 **Silently agreeing as he heads towards the front, he turns around with his back against the door, "You want anything if I stop by the store?"**

 **"I've been craving some chocolate," Aubrey pouts as she rubs her stomach, "Get me a brownie or something."**

 **"Alright." Mikey turns and points to Emily, "You want anything, Em?"**

 **"Oh," Emily reacts with surprise. She shakes her head as she waves her hand, "No, I'm ok. Thank you."**

 **"Y'sure?"**

 **"Yeah, I'm fine."**

 **"Alright, I'll be back. Llámame if he cancels." Mikey calls out before he pushes the door with his back.**

 **"I'm leaving early!" Aubrey yells, getting Mikey's attention again as she swivels in her chair, "Just thought you should know."**

 **He turns back with a raised eyebrow. "For what?"**

 **"I gotta do things."**

 **"** _ **Like**_ _ **what**_ **?" Mikey crosses his arms, amused to see what excuse Aubrey is going to come up with to leave early.**

 **"** _ **Hey**_ **. I don't go around prying in your business."**

 **"** _ **What**_ _ **business**_ **? You open my texts, emails, and mail every time I get something."**

 **"** _ **Well**_ **, that's because when you're here,** _ **your**_ **business is** _ **my**_ **business." Aubrey puts a defending hand on her chest, "I have to make sure you're not endangering my life-" Aubrey extends a hand in Emily's direction, "our lives while in your care."**

 **"** _ **Mira coño**_ **..." Mikey rolls his eyes as he pushes the door and leaves the shop to start his errands.**

 **Turning back to a giggling Aubrey, squeezing the stress ball in her hand, Emily adjusts herself in her chair, "Why do you have to leave early?"**

 **Aubrey makes a dismissive face, rocking side to side, "Just because. Business is pretty slow today anyways so it's not like he needs the extra hand."**

 **Emily nods and tosses the ball in the air, "When do you plan on leaving?"**

 **"Probably around 3." Aubrey replies looking at the time on her phone. "Give or take."**

 **Emily looks down at her assignment with hesitancy as she squeezes the stress ball tighter in her hands, "….Why….don't…I….come with you…?" The words slowly fall out of Emily's mouth, wincing at every letter. She looks at Aubrey with a bowed head through the corner of her eyes just to catch somewhat of a reaction.**

" **No." Aubrey chuckles as she sits up in her chair, scooting closer to desk "** _ **Nooo way.**_ **"**

" **Why not?"**

 **Aubrey looks at Emily with a questionable glance, trying to understand if Emily was serious or not. With Emily waiting for a reason, Aubrey undeniably shakes her head, "A fresh kidnapped survivor leaving city lines with a** _ **complete**_ **stranger? You're just trying to set me up for jail time."**

" **Philly is only what? 20 minutes away? 15 if you go fast?" Emily throws the ball back at Aubrey as she pleads her case, "It'll be so quick, nobody would even notice I'm gone."**

 **Aubrey's mouth hangings open with the fast blinks of her eyes, unbelieving her ears.** _ **Is….Is she serious right now?**_ **"Not only do you want me to get arrested, you want your mom to beat my ass too. It's nice to see how you value my life, Emily."**

 **Emily leans over in the brunette's direction, deciding to press her luck harder. "I'll tell them I'm over, my friend, Aria's place. She'll cover for me with no problem."**

" **I don't know…." Aubrey rubs her eyes, pulling her face with her hands as she tugs her skin down.**

" _ **C'mon.**_ **" Emily pleads in a soft assuring voice, "It won't be that bad. Just a quick trip."**

 **Aubrey stares at Emily with narrowed eyes and a very faint smirk on her lips. Her eyes glances down at Emily's assignments, "Do your homework, high schooler."**

… **..**

 **Putting the key inside the lock, Aubrey turns the handle and opens the door to her apartment. Being completely dark, she flicks on the light and leans her body against the entrance way closet as she takes off her shoes. "If you can…" Aubrey notions Emily's feet.**

" **Oh!" Emily jumps into action to remove her shoes. "Of course."**

" **Thanks," Aubrey stands up straight and opens the closet door neatly holding jackets, umbrellas, shoes and other articles needed to run out. "I've just never been a fan of walking into homes with shoes on." She bends down and pairs her shoes together, putting them in their designated area. "You bring all the dirt from outside in and it's…it's just a pet peeve of mine."**

" **Yeah, it makes sense." She hands her shoes to Aubrey who puts them to the side before she stands up and closes the door. She leads Emily through the foyer and into the living room, throwing her keys on the kitchen bar.**

" _ **Welcome**_ **to my humble abode." Aubrey outstretches her arms. "Not as nice as your place but…it does the job."**

 **Emily gawks out into the setup of Aubrey's living room in front of her. Immediately greeted by the delicious scent of vanilla, the warm smell is accompanied by a warm modern living space: Heather-sandal colored sectional couch complemented with a single seater. Onyx modern-design glass top coffee table in the middle on top of a soft untouched, white rug. An entertainment center with a HDTV hung above on the wall and various art pieces placed throughout to give the space a "homey" feel.**

 **Aubrey opens her fridge doors, looking over her shoulder at Emily examining some of her decorations, "Would you like anything to drink? Water? Juice? Tea?"**

 **"Water is fine," Emily responds back, her eyes not leaving the decor. She picks up a grey picture frame that holds a picture of a young Aubrey squeezing a hug out of a taller boy. "Is this your brother...?"**

 **Aubrey closes the door with a water and lemon ice tea bottle in hand. She walks over to the living room with Emily and the picture faced her. "Yep. The big man himself." She hands Emily her ice cold bottle of water.**

 **"He was a good looking guy" Emily nods as she looks over Gabriel's physic: Tall. Fit with broad shoulders and thick arms. Sporter of a couple visible tattoos underneath his dark denim jacket that compliments his tan skin tone. Clean and sleek black hair with tampered sides accompanied by a gruff beard to match his diamond shaped face. Deep set of dark brown eyes and a smile that could make the likes of the Grinch's heart warmed.**

 **"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree." Aubrey gushes as she lays her hands underneath her chin.**

 **Emily smiles at Aubrey's nice spirits with awe, "No, it doesn't." She returns the picture frame down to its appropriate spot then turns back to Aubrey, "Where's your room?"  
...**

 **Aubrey opens another door to a small but warm and simply decorated room. "And this...is where the magic happens." Emily walks in front of Aubrey, observing her living space as Aubrey shoves her hands in her jean pockets "Just kidding. No magic happens in here, just binge eating and emotional TV watching."**

 **Emily slowly walks into Aubrey's minimalist themed room. The dim-lighting from overhead accents the avid, unconventional art pieces hung on her walls. Her low to the floor, black queen sized bed and matching sets compliment the cherry polished hardwood floors. Along with a few electronic devices, a desk and a bookshelf, Emily thoroughly enjoys her view.**

 **Aubrey pulls out her phone from her back pocket, "Ok, we literally have a little less than an hour before I have to bring you back to Rosewood." She remarks as she checks the time. Locking her phone, Aubrey lets out a long sigh as she wrings her wrists. Feeling like that one kid who snuck out for the first time and now all they could think about is time, Aubrey tries to calm her nerves down with a shake of her hands. Someone who is all about taking risks definitely is nervous about this risk.**

 **Emily sits on Aubrey's bed as her hands rubs against the soft velvety of her bed cover. "Do you spend a lot of time in here?" She glances up at Aubrey with curious eyes.**

 **"Pretty much." Aubrey waltz over to her bed and takes a seat next to Emily, "If it's not the kitchen, I don't go into the living room like that unless people are over. And I hardly go into the 2nd bedroom unless I have to clean it."**

 **"There's another room in here?"**

 **"Mhmmm." Aubrey nods, "My family is pretty big so I made sure to get an apartment with an extra room just for those scenarios."**

 **Emily takes another approving look at the art and choice of decor surrounding her, "I like it here. It's very...warm and relaxing."**

 **"I try to make it reflect my personality." Aubrey proudly grins.**

…

Giving Dr. Sullivan her final nod and goodbye, Alison walks out of her office and into the lobby to proceed her way out the door.

"It was nice to see you, Alison. Have a good evening, ok?" The front desk receptionist calls out with an earnest smile.

"Thank you, you too." Alison leans on the door before she swings it open to feel the warm temperature of the mid-May weather surround her. Checking her surroundings, Alison starts her voyage out of the parking lot and onto the sidewalk as she walks in the direction of her house. Covering a few blocks in her journey, Alison reflects back on what she and Dr. Sullivan discussed. She realized the one thing that she never really thought about:

Opening up is hard.

You can only talk about nothing for so long before silence replaces the conversation.

And you are forced with the option of opening up.

Opening up is hard.

For anyone.

Especially if you're not used to it.

Especially if you see vulnerability as a weakness.

" **We all have it. Some of us might not like it but it's universal. That's how we live. We live in a vulnerable world." Dr. Sullivan crosses her ankles as she informs Alison, "One of the ways we deal with it is we numb vulnerability. In reaction, with years in the making, you've developed the strongest defenses. You've created this wall of titanium steel to help you protect yourself. To help shelter your emotions from the public because you believe to be vulnerable is to be weak…..And Alison DiLaurentis is not a weak person."**

" **No." Alison swallows as she makes eye contact with Dr. Sullivan, "No, she is not."**

" **But….Alison DiLaurentis is a sad person."**

 **Instead of a response, Alison clenches her teeth together as she stares back at Dr. Sullivan. Not with angry or narrowed eyes but of eyes that showed**

 **Just a bit**

 **A small trace**

 **Of the unhappiness Dr. Sullivan explained.**

 **But within five seconds**

 **The feelings flickered away.**

"Alison?"

Alison jumps, slightly startled at the voice that interrupted her ruminations. She turns in the direction of the calling to see Lorenzo slowly driving next to her in his patrol car. "Hey…"

"It's pretty dangerous for you to be walking alone." Lorenzo rests his arm outside where the window should be as he watches Alison, driving at a lingering speed of 5 miles per hour. "Especially if it's a long distance."

"Well, I never learned how to drive so…" Alison keeps her sights looking ahead as she saunters beside Lorenzo, "Walking is my only mode of transportation. Unless you want me to strap a few wheels to my shoes and rollerblade everywhere like they did in the 70's."

Lorenzo laughs as he looks ahead to the road in front of him, "If you're good enough, you can create a small team and compete for turf at the local roller-rink." Alison faintly smiles as she continues on her path. Lorenzo looks back at Alison, "Where's your dad or Jason? Why don't they pick you up?"

"Dad's at work. Who knows where the hell Jason is half of the time."

Still keeping up with Alison's pace, Lorenzo checks the time on his dashboard before turning back to Alison, "Let me take you home."

Actually turning to look at Lorenzo for the first time as she's been walking, she stops in her steps causing Lorenzo to stop his car as well. "Hopping inside of a police vehicle doesn't look good in front of people. No matter how voluntary it is."

"It's not like I'm handcuffing you and throwing you in the back of the cruiser." Lorenzo extends his hand to the seat beside him, "You'll be riding in the passenger seat. Trust me. No will think you're in trouble."

Alison stands looking at Lorenzo with skeptical eyes and a raised brow as Lorenzo returns a patient, anticipating look right back. Without any words exchanged for a few seconds, Alison takes a glance around her before she steps off the sidewalk and walks towards the passenger side of the car.

Lorenzo rolls up his window, glimpsing at Alison closing her door after taking a seat. "As much as health classes try to advertise, I don't like the idea of you walking around by yourself."

"Thank you for your concern, _McGruff the Crime Dog_ , but I can protect myself." Alison remarks as she puts on her seatbelt, "I've been doing it this long. The lack of transportation won't change anything."

Lorenzo nods, looking down at the steering wheel not disagreeing Alison's inability to care for herself despite the situations she have found herself in recent times. He glances back over at the blonde who is looking out her window, waiting for him to take her to her destination.

"You said you never learned how to drive?"

…

 _Today 5:44pm_

 _Group Chat:_

 _Aria:_ SOS

….

Collecting in Spencer's living room, Aria, Hanna, and Spencer wait for the other two members of their group to start their overdue meeting. With Aria and Hanna making small talk, Spencer peeks through her living room blinds and notices a patrol car pulling up. Knowing that the police are no longer surveilling them, Spencer expects it to be Toby making a small pit stop to check to see if she's okay. Very much to her surprise, the only person she sees come out of the car was Alison. Not alerting the other two Alison's choice of entrance, Spencer walks over to her door to allow the blonde in.

"Hey," Spencer greets as she stands on the side of her door.

"Hey." Alison gives a small smile before walking into Spencer's house. Spencer eyes the cruiser driving off and catches a glimpse of the driver as he leaves the street.

Aria impatiently looks at her phone lock screen time and sigs to herself, "Have you text Emily?"

"Only 400 times," Hanna throws herself on the couch opposite of Alison and Spencer, "She says she's on her way."

Alison shifts herself as she tries to get comfortable, putting her purse besides her and fidgeting with her hair. Knowing that someone who saw her as public enemy number one, someone who she basically got into hate match with, someone she has hasn't seen in almost two weeks is about to walk through those doors at any moment put her a bit over the edge.

"I don't even want to have this meeting knowing how quiet it's been but I think it's a perfect way to finally get a few steps ahead of A." Aria breaks the silence in the room as she walks over from Spencer fridge with a drink in hand.

"A few steps ahead of Charles," Hanna mutters with her eyes unmoved from her phone screen.

"Well, whoever the bitch is." Aria corrects herself as she sits on the couch's armrest next to Hanna, "I mean, there hasn't been any movements since the dollhouse." Aria looks over at Alison and Spencer with uncertain eyes, "I-I don't know. I might sound crazy but I don't know."

Hanna lifts her eyes from her phone and rests it in her lap, "What if the reason why A is quiet is because they're getting ready for a grand finale or something?"

Everyone shifts their direction at Hanna with different varies of perturbed faces and narrowed brows.

" _What_?" Hanna shakes her head as she defends herself from the looks, "All the freaking crazies do it! And we're probably like sitting geese right now."

"Sitting ducks." A whisper comes out.

"What?"

"It's _sitting ducks_ not sitting geese." Spencer quietly corrects Hanna.

Hanna's mouth hangs open unbelievably, "Wha- they're all the same!"

Spencer nods to herself right when her kitchen door opens. Everyone turns their attention to the opposite side of the room and watches Emily appear from the door.

"Hey, Em." Everyone collectively responds as Alison turns her head in the opposite direction into her phone.

"Hey…" Emily greets everyone back, catching her eyes drift over to Alison looking down at her phone. Surprised to see her at this SOS, she looks to the opposite side to Hanna, "What's going on?"

"We're planning a birthday party for Charles." Hanna jumps at the question with a forced smile, "What kind of cake should we get? Do you think he's more of a frosting or icing kind of guy?"

" _Is he's more of a frosting or icing kind of guy?"_ Emily mocks under her breath as she friendly elbows Hanna, sitting down next to her.

"We're trying to _one up_ A since we haven't gotten any disturbances." Aria informs Emily as she gets comfortable, "As much as I want to say it's good. Too much quietness is making me uneasy."

"Maybe they finally quit the bullshit and skipped town now that they're basically on the countries' most wanted list." Hanna huffs as she leans back into the couch with her arms crossed. "Anyone that sticks around with that kind of spotlight on them _wants_ to be taken out by the KGB."

"Hanna…." Spencer closes her eyes and hangs her head once again out of disappointment but not surprise, "…The KGB is in Russia."

"Well with the shit he's done to everyone, he probably made an enemy out of them too!"

"Hanna-"

As Spencer attempts to reverse Hanna's self-teaching, Emily glances up At Alison who happened to be looking down at her feet, subconsciously twisting around her ring on ring finger. Seeing Alison again brings back waves of their last words to each other, playing in her head instead of hearing her friends around her talk.

"Ok," Spencer turns the conversation over to its original direction, "Let's cover our basis with what we know. Since we know that he is a long lost DiLaurentis, we need to find out where he's been after all these years."

"Under the ground," Alison mumbles to herself as she continues to twist her ring. Unfortunately, her mumble was at the just right volume to catch everyone's attention.

" _What?_ " Everyone shifts to Alison with different tones of disbelief.

"He's been dead." Alison looks up and peers at the girls surrounding her as she picks up her voice, "My dad told Jason and I that he committed suicide at 16. That would leave us to be around 9 years old."

"That's _bullshit_ , Alison." Unable to stop herself, Emily first words to Alison was calling her out under the premises of a lie. Making eye contact with Emily for the first time in a while, Alison's eyes flash cold as they narrow her in her direction.

"Yeah…I second that bullshit claim." Aria adds in her two cents, not believing a word Kenneth DiLaurentis conjured up as an excuse.

"You mean to tell me that we're being hunted by a _corpse_?" Hanna claps her hands together out of pure amusement and frustration, "Just when the _tales of Rosewood_ couldn't get any wilder, we're getting bullied by a spirit. Where did all the patients at Radley get sent to?" Hanna unlocks her phone, "I'm about to check us all into the nuthouse."

"Ali," Spencer turns her body towards Alison with her hands pressed together in a prayer gesture, "I'm gonna say this is delicately as I can….Your father's a liar."

"You guys think I don't know this?" Alison retorts back at everyone's jump on her relayed message, "I don't believe him as much as you guys don't but he claims it's on the file…he never left Radley."

"How did he do it?" Aria curiously asks.

"He took pills."

Sighs fill the room as everyone tries to make sense of the never ending plot twist of a story. Aria rubs her temples as she tries her swing at a theory, "If Charles really _did_ die...Did someone pick up his identity to torture us?" Her eyes dart back and forth in between the girls as she searches for an answer within anyone.

" _Look_ , A responds to the name Charles," Spencer shoots down the death claim, "Clearly that home movie in the dollhouse means a lot to him." She turns back to Alison, "That right there is enough reason for us to believe that your brother might still be alive."

"With all this research and digging around, it still doesn't answer what his motive is for all of this." Emily crosses her arms as she shakes her head, looking up at the ceiling fan above them keeping them cool at a medium speed, "I mean, this guy is willing to risk the death penalty just to torture us."

"Which brings me back to where this all began," Hanna sets her sights on Alison, meeting her eyes, "What the hell happened that night?"

With everyone's eyes shifting on Alison once again, Alison shakes her head, not understanding Hanna's accusation. "What night?"

"The night you went missing aka the night that opened the gates of hell. I feel there is way more information about what happened than you've told us."

"I..." Alison starts off, dropping her gazes a few notches down as she begins to twist her ring again, "I-I don't remember that much from that night."

Emily leans forward with her eyebrows pinched and eyes hardened, "What the hell do you mean you don't remember that much?" She harshly demands more than she asks.

"That was a fucking traumatic night for me _, ok?_ " Alison spits back as she mirrors Emily's body language, leaning forward, icy eyes, and a growl deeper than Emily's, "I was buried alive and left for dead by my mother, which is the last memory I have of her alive. _Excuse the fuck out of me_ if I choose to block it out." Breathing deeply as she burns a gaze that causes Emily to back down, Spencer soothes her with a gentle rub on her back to calm her down. Silence cuts the air as everyone's eyes lowers with Alison's reality becoming their own once they realized the short deck Alison has been dealt compared to the rest of them. Watching Spencer calm Alison down at the insensitive remark that caused her to rile up, Emily eyes soften as she hangs her head.

"It's like A has us completely surrounded." Aria quietly utters as she hugs herself with the corner of her lips dragging at the ends, "He's everywhere yet nowhere at the same time."

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

Everyone glances up at Emily's phone notification, waiting for her to read it. Looking at her messages, Emily looks up the girls around her, "It's my mom. She needs me home."

"I was about to _say_ ," Hanna says out in relief as she lifts her arms above her head and leans back

into the couch, "Wouldn't this be _perfect_ timing for a " _I'm back, bitches_ " text." Aria playfully slaps Hanna on the arm as she gives her a tired amused look, "Do you mind if you can drop me off before you go?" Hanna asks Emily as she watches her get up from the couch.

Emily agrees, prompting Hanna to rise to her feet, "I'll see you guys later," Emily softly calls out her goodbye to everyone. She watches her friends respond back except Alison who looks back into her phone, ignoring her presence. Emily's eyes leave the blonde and lead her straight towards the door with Hanna followed behind.

"I'm going to hit the road too, you guys," Aria informs her leave as she begins to pack up her things, "I'll see you guys in class tomorrow."

"Bye," Spencer and Alison bid her goodbye as she waves and follows Emily and Hanna's path out the door.

…..

Pulling out of Spencer's driveway, Hanna wastes no time in interrogating Emily once again. " _Soooo_ , Alison…"

Emily readjusts herself back into her seat as she switches the gear from reverse to drive, completely unphased, "What about her?"

"What about her?" Hanna repeats Emily's statement as her eyes lock onto Emily, "What about _you_ guys? The tension in there was so thick between you two, I think I heard my hair bleaching itself. Did you guys get into a fight or something?"

Emily sighs as she rests her left hand on the side of the door, not wanting to go through yet another cross-examination. "I just simply don't have time anymore. School's ending, college is right around the corner….I have better things to focus on right now."

 _-Concurrently-_

"I'm sorry for all of that…" Spencer apologizes as her and Alison are the only two left still in her living room. "I-umm…." Spencer scratches the back of her ear as she tries to find her correct wording, "I saw you coming out of a patrol car earlier?"

"Yeah…It was Lorenzo" Alison nods as she looks down at her ring and the redness it has caused her finger from twisting it so much. "He basically watches over me when my family neglects to."

" _Lorenzo_ …" Spencer drags out his name, remembering seeing him around whenever Toby was on duty. "Toby likes him."

Alison looks up at Spencer, "Toby must have told him all about me." She unconfirms with her hesitant look before glancing back down, "Just as well..."

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Spencer arched her eyebrows and crinkled her eyes as she's taken back by Alison odd commenting.

"Has Toby talked to Lorenzo about me?"

"I don't know?" Spencer shakes her head, "Why?"

Alison eyes drift from Spencer's eye to the décor in front of her, subtly shaking her head as she concentrates her eyes on her phone and her unread notifications.

Keeping a watchful eye on Alison, feeling the uncomfortable air in the room, Spencer takes in a deep breath, "You know, Ali….There's a version of this where we could've all been killed." The frankness from the brunette causes Alison to raise her head and meet Spencer's eyes. " _But we weren't_. So it's like a second chance and I don't know _anybody_ who couldn't use one of those." Alison sits there visibly pondering Spencer's words as her eyes drift to the side again, "Alison, I'm so sorry for everything that has happened to you. To know that while we were here, you were underground, on the run for two whole years. At the age you were, many girls wouldn't have survived that sudden change of lifestyle but you _…."_ Spencer softly smiles as she taps Alison's leg, "You are a strong type of girl."

Alison's lips trembled into an insecure smile as she looked deeply into Spencer's eyes, feeling how sincere she was made her voice quiver a bit, "Thank you, Spencer."

Spencer nods, looking down at the rug underneath their feet, tracing the designs lightly with her socks, "I know we weren't the best of friends and that we've had our differences in the past but…times have changed." She glances back up to Alison unmoved eyes, " _I've_ changed. _You've_ changed so much and honestly I can say with all of my heart that I am proud of you."

Alison eyes begin to sting with the collection of tears beginning to form in her eyes. Her chin faintly tremors as she forms yet another smile at Spencer's kindness. Not hearing anyone tell her these words since she's arrived back at Rosewood has taken more of an emotional toil than she's expected. Automatically being placed as the blame holder of all of Rosewood was a role she was forced to fulfill but to see and actually hear someone that she trusts other than a paid therapist telling her that she is worth more than everyone else's betting causes the tied up emotions to dwindle down more than any dispute or sit down she's ever had.

Spencer scoots in closer to Alison as she puts an arm around her shoulder, "You're so strong, and Ali" she whispers, "Your mother would be so proud of you. As your half-sister, I know I am."

Hitting her all at once, Alison loses control of her overwhelming emotions and covers her face as she beings to break down. Crying softly into her trembling hands, Spencer pulls her in for a tight hug, resting her chin on the top of Alison's head as Alison wraps her arms around Spencer's waist. Spencer gently rubs her back as she soothes her with a slow rocking motion amid Alison's weeping filling the air. "It's okay, it's okay." Spencer sucks in her bottom lip as she closes her eyes, hating to witness the sight of one of her friends crying, "It's okay…"

" _ **Alison DiLaurentis is not a weak person. But Alison DiLaurentis is a sad person."**_

x

 **Vulnerability is not a bad thing.**

 **To be vulnerable is to be strong.**

 **A little strength never hurt anyone :)**

 **Unless you're the Hulk….Then I suggest you to tone down the strength _just a tad._**

 **Because of the change of quick sudden of language thrown in this story. I will translate below what those words mean so you won't be entirely lost :)**

 **Now, quick disclaimer, the beauty of Spanish words is that different Spanish speaking countries have different meanings for certain words. So that means, in one country it might mean definition A but in other country, it's used in a whole different context.**

" **Alright, I'll be back. *** _ **Llámame**_ **if he cancels," =** _ **Call me**_ **if he cancels.**

" _ ***Mira Coño**_ **…" =** _ **Look damn it**_

 **As the story continues…..**


	11. Chapter 11: Self-Realization?

CHAPTER #11: Self-Realization?

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed

" **Are you angry?"**

" **About what?"**

" **Anything."**

" **I'm not."**

" **Are you sure?"**

" **Yep."**

 **Dr. Sullivan watches over Emily's front up as she places her notepad in her lap, "I think you're lying to me."**

" **Now why would you think that?" Emily tilts her head to the side as she challenges the therapist.**

 **In the beginning of the sessions, Emily was extremely standoffish and was the most difficult out of the other four girls. After the habitual routine of seeing her every week, Emily has expanded from vocabulary from silence to actual conversations. Although, the conversations didn't get to the root or even past the soil of some issues, Dr. Sullivan was happy she was at least talking.**

" **When we had the group session, you seemed pretty angry."**

" **You had a challenge and I did it." Emily shrugs, deflecting the accusation, "You can** _ **hardly**_ **diagnose that as** _ **aggression**_ **."**

" **You know…" Dr. Sullivan rests her notebook on the table on the right side of her, "Denial is a powerful defense that we use to try to hide anger." Emily shakes her head as she rolls her eyes at Dr. Sullivan, crossing her arms and turning her sights on something else. "And if I had to take an educated guess….I would say that most of your anger is pitted onto one person."**

 **Emily raises a curious brow, "And who would that one person be, Dr. Sullivan?"**

 **The therapist leans forward observing thoroughly at Emily's demeanor and closed off body language, "I think that person is Spencer Hastings."**

 **Completely amused, Emily blurts out a laugh as Dr. Sullivan smirks to herself. "Yeah." Emily nods her head with laughter still sounding, "That's** _ **exactly**_ **it. That's who I put all my aggression on."**

" **So you admit that you have ill feelings?" Dr. Sullivan asks in the midst of Emily's sarcasm.**

" **Towards** _ **Spencer**_ **?" Emily's laughter begins to die down as she leans comfortably to the side, "Yeah.** _ **Totally**_ **."**

" **Towards Alison DiLaurents."**

 **The humor in Emily's smile slowly begins to fade as she pushes out her jaw in a mouth hanging motion. She silently gazes at the doctor who wears back an expect smile back.**

" **Am I warm?" Dr. Sullivan nods as she leans back into her chair.**

…

 **Leaving Dr. Sullivan's office, Emily hops into the passenger side of her father's car as he waited for her to get out.**

" **How was it today?" Wayne asks as he puts his car in drive and makes his way out the parking lot.**

" **It was dull…" Emily looks out her window, looking at the building growing smaller behind her in the side rearview mirror. "Just like the other days."**

 **Wayne takes a glance at Emily shrugged behavior and takes a breath in, "Normally your mom & I would tag team this but I think this is more my field. I know we've never had this talk before but…I feel like it's better late than never."**

 **Emily ears immediately perk up as she twists her head in the direction of her father, "Dad please. If this conversation is going where I think it's going-"**

 **Wayne laughs as he waves Emily down with a hand, "Trust me, Emmy. That's one talk I think we can avoid for a lifetime." Her father cringes as he puts on his turn signal reaching a red light, "But no. This is on a whole different topic line."**

 **Mentally relieving herself from a random awkward sex talk, Emily visibly relaxes as she waits for her dad to continue.**

" **Don't tell your mom this but….back in the day, I was** _ **the man.**_ **" Emily confusedly laughs with a squint in her eye and tilt in her head. Trying to understand why and how this conversation is starting. "I mean, I had the nice wavy cut, smoking goatee, and a nice body. I had girls flocking all over me."**

 **Emily chuckles as she looks back out her window, "Sure you did," she mocks.**

" _ **What**_ **?" Wayne's voice pitch heightens as he snaps his head to look at Emily in disbelief. "You think you got your charm from your mother? You might have gotten your looks and your sense of nurturing from your mother," Wayne looks back at the road as the light turns green, "But your height, athleticism, killer smile….you got that me." Wayne smiles slyly to himself with a roll of his neck, "You got Wayne's ol' razzle dazzle."**

 **Emily bursts out laughing as she turns to look at her father, "** _ **Please**_ **," She begs shaking her head, "Don't ever use those words in a sentence again."**

" _ **Razzle dazzle."**_ **Wayne rolls his neck again with an exaggerated southern accent imitation. "Let me tell you, it isn't our milkshakes that brings all the girls to the yard."**

" _ **Okaaaaaaay**_ **, this conversation is now over." Emily cracks up at her father's sense of humor, "It finished right before it started. First razzle dazzle and now milkshakes? You failed** _ **horrible**_ **, dad." Emily and Wayne both giggle as Wayne decides to take the longer route home.**

" **But in all seriousness, I** _ **was**_ **the man." Wayne continues on, "I had all the girls. If I said I was hungry, they would pull out money just to offer me something to eat. After a while, I got used to living like a prince. That is…..until she came along."**

" **Mom?"**

" _ **Oh, no**_ **." Wayne shakes his head as he drops on hand off the steering wheel and rests it on his leg, "Your mom came later in the story. The she I'm referring to is** _ **Wendy**_ **.** _ **Wendy Patterson**_ **. Now, what made Wendy so different from the other girls? Wendy didn't care who I was.** _ **I**_ **had to chase** _ **her.**_ **And being the hotshot I was, I did. Biggest mistake because that girl broke my heart." Seriousness takes over Emily as she listens to her father story tell about his dating life as a teen. Secretly wondering in the back of her mind as to why her father would share this with her now is a mystery but she was willing to find out. "The same guys I would call a wuss for being hung over a girl, I became** _ **that**_ **guy. I would stand outside her window to get her attention, try to talk to her after school whenever there was a chance. See, you guys have texts. If you want to spill your feelings, you would text your little paragraphs, send it and they'll get it immediately. Back then we had notes. Probably something foreign to you guys," Wayne chuckles, "I had to get a pencil and paper and fill that bad boy up with my all feelings and emotions, fold it up and stick it in her locker hoping that she'll see it and respond to it."**

" **Did she ever write you back?"**

" **Nope." Wayne shakes his head as he taps the steering wheel with his thumb, "And because I was so invested in her in the past, I just couldn't get over her. She was literally the focus of my thoughts all the time. I would get sad, angry, confused, all at the same time. And this was for a quite a while. We never dated but I really liked her." Wayne glances over at Emily and catches her eyes, "Sometimes the feeling of wanting someone comes and you feel completely helpless. And….it's okay to go through those feelings. But the moment you let those feelings become you, that's when it's** _ **not okay**_ **."**

 **Emily's eyes drift down as they become veiled in thought.** _ **Does he know about Alison…? No…No he can't know. I haven't told anyone. He barely knows anything between us…Well, if mom hadn't said anything. Which she probably did.**_

" **Now, I'm not trying to imply anything or try to snoop into your personal life but, I think it's just words of wisdom everyone needs to hear. It doesn't always have to pertain to relationships, just with life in general. You are allowed to feel things, just don't let those things become you." Wayne repeats, soaking his words into Emily's head. "But then I met your mom, kicked Wendy to the side, and made a great life for myself." He turns to glance at Emily with a smile, "I would say things turned out pretty damn good."**

…

 **Aubrey emerges from her room wearing a black tank top and black shorts, walking into the living room with a large with thin case with some kind of red and black design in the center. Lying down on her couch, on her phone, Emily looks up and sees the backside of Aubrey as she tends to something at her entertainment center. "What do you got over there?"**

" **I've been looking for this for like** _ **ever**_ **and I** _ **just**_ **found it in my closet, deep within my things." She turns around and shows Emily the cover she held, "** _ **Only Be the Night.**_ **Kings of Leon," She deviously smiles as she examines the cover herself.**

" **Woah, is that a vinyl record?" Emily curiously asks as she sits up straight.**

" **Yep." Aubrey carefully slides out the fragile 12 inch black record out of its case, "One of the many that I like to collect." She opens the turntable player case and places the record in its placeholder.**

" **What made you get a record player instead of a regular Bluetooth speakers?" Emily curiously questions as Aubrey configures her system.**

" **I love the participation that comes with it, I guess." Aubrey shrugs still with her back to Emily. She extends her hand to her Sound Bar System that allows the music to be played through external speakers, "Now, I still have a music player to play music from my phone but this….** _ **this**_ **is where it's at." Grabbing the system remote, Aubrey turns around to face Emily sitting on her couch, looking up at her, "There's something to be said about taking your time, searching through your records. Finding that** _ **one**_ **you were looking for** _ **. Holding it, feeling it, taking it out of its protective cover**_ **. Putting it on the player and placing the needle, watching it spin as you listen." Aubrey rubs her left arm with her right hand as she looks up at her ceiling, the fan quietly spinning above them. "It's like going to a movie theater to watch a movie instead of renting it. Or going to a restaurant to eat dinner instead of making dinner at home. It's just the experience that comes with it."**

 **Emily nods as she glances at the player behind Aubrey, "I've never actually seen a modern day version of one. I know my grandfather has one but it's very old, you know?"**

" **Right.** _ **Besides**_ **!" Aubrey turns around and crouches down to a compartment underneath her player inside of her entertainment center, pulling out a basket and grabbing a record case. "Look at the album art on these covers. It's just offers so much more than what you can get on a CD case." She hops into a space right besides Emily on the couch and hands her the case, "It's so** _ **vivid**_ **. It's like actual art for you to look at and get lost in." Aubrey pulls her knees up to her chest as she watches Emily observe the album cover. Holding the 12 inch dark grey album in her hands, the art consists of a woman, possibly a model who possess the feel of the 50's with her curled shoulder length hair, in black in white with a red partially see through square edited ono her face. With such crisp and clear quality, it is definitely an interesting album art cover to find yourself trying to decipher.**

" **I dunno…." Aubrey sucks in her bottom lip as she leans back into the couch, "I just love it."**

" **No, yeah you're right." Emily flips the cover to see the track listing on the back, "I could see why you like it. It certainly brings back a nostalgia feel. I can only imagine how my parents felt when they had their favorite records."**

" _ **Yeah**_ **…."**

 _ **Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!**_

 **Aubrey jumps off the couch and waltz towards her kitchen to stop the beeping. Placing the vinyl on her living room table in front of her, Emily rises to her feet as well. "What are you cooking?"**

 **The brunette takes out the bowl of dough from her fridge and places it on the kitchen bar behind her, "I was in the mood for some cookies but I didn't feel like going to get store bought."**

" **What kind of cookies?"**

" **Chocolate chip because I'm basic." Aubrey chuckles as she pulls out a cookie sheet pan, "And because I don't trust myself to make anything else elaborate."**

" _ **Oooh**_ **. Chocolate chip." Emily slides over to the cookie dough in the bowl with a grin, "Don't mind if I do."**

" **Um?!" Aubrey swats Emily's hand away causing Emily to retreat her hand back as if she just escaped a death trap. "No eating the cookie dough."**

" **Why not?" Emily rubs her battered hand, giving Aubrey the puppy eyes.**

" **Because, I need it. Obviously."**

" _ **Obviously,**_ **it wouldn't hurt if I take a piece." Emily reaches her hand back into the bowl, ignoring Aubrey's warning.**

 **Smacking her hand away again, Aubrey takes the bowl away from Emily to resist the temptation, "Are you deaf or do you just choose not to listen?"**

" **Or maybe you're just being selfish." Emily walks from behind the bar to the kitchen towards Aubrey, "You're taking all the cookie dough for yourself!"**

 **Emily reaches for the bowl but Aubrey quickly swoops it out of her direction, hugging it tight against her chest as she defends it as if it was her child. "Back away, woman!"**

 **Emily pushes up behind her as she tries to nab the delicate treats, "Just one scoop is all I want!" Not letting up, Emily continues to push, forcing Aubrey in one direction as Emily traps her into a corner of her kitchen, "Looks like you have nowhere left to run," The brunette mumbles into Aubrey's ear, still pressed against her. "Now give up the goods and nobody gets hurt."**

 **Aubrey turns around to face Emily as she switches the bowl to behind her, placed between her back and the wall, she tilts her head up with a conniving smile, "Looks like you're going to have to fight me for it…"**

 **Squinting her eyes with a slight smirk faintly on her lips, Emily stares into Aubrey's hazel inviting eyes, "I don't think you want to do that…"**

" **Oh, I think I do."**

…

 **Before ending her trip by going back home, Emily decided to stop for a quick store shop. Scanning the aisles for something particular, she finds exactly what she needs. Understanding that school is coming to an end and that the things that have happened to her in the past, sometimes you have to let go and move forward. Unfortunately, that saying is normally easier said than done. Emily knows she still has unsettling emotions still left inside her but….the last thing she wants to do is look back at this time, 5-10 years from now and see the struggle and madness that had happened all around her. If anything, she wants to bury everything from this time period that could warrant any unwanted feelings in the future. Almost like burning every picture of today so tomorrow, along with the blocked out memories, there would be no physical evidence.**

 **And in order to do that, she has to take care of something first.**

…

"Ok, you're doing good. Just breathe….and relax. As long as you don't tense up, there won't be any problems."

Alison slowly brings the vehicle to a halt, looking left then right for any in-coming cars.

"Ok, nobody is coming. You can go now." Lorenzo directs the rookie motorist in the driver's seat of his grey 2012 Chevy Camaro ZL1. Taking her foot off the break and easing it slowly onto the gas pedal, Alison continues onto the straight road ahead of her.

"Ok, so you're going to be making a left here so what do you do?"

"Get into the left lane and turn on my left blinker." Alison replies as she tightly grips the steering wheel on both sides, constantly looking in rearview mirror to make sure nobody is behind her.

"Good, good." Lorenzo pleasantly nods. "So after you make that left, I want you to pull into the parking lot and we're going to park the car nice and easy, okay?"

" _Okay_." Alison breathes out a nervous breath as she starts to wring the leather of the wheel. After being taunted by a mysterious figure, buried by your mother, on the run for two years, and being locked up, who would have known Alison's biggest obstacle right now would be driving a car? Making the said left on the practically empty street, Alison makes another left into privately owned parking lot with cars parked just about everywhere.

"Right there." Lorenzo points ahead at an open parking space, "There's an available spot on your right. Now all you have to do is just _slowly_ and _carefully_ drive into it."

Looking at where his finger leads, Alison notice an open spot, indeed. However, being neighbored by a pickup truck and a light pole doesn't make Alison the most confident person in the world.

"I-I-I don't think I can do this." Alison turns to face Lorenzo with her hands still clutching the wheel.

"Alison," Lorenzo shifts his body in his seat to face the anxious blonde, "It's ok. All you have to do is follow the yellow lines." He points back to the parking space before turning back to Alison with an assuring smile, "This is a small car, you're alright."

Hearing the small words of encouragement, Alison stares at Lorenzo with uncertain eyes still before she looks back at the parking lot in front of her. She sucks in a deep breath as she releases her foot off the brake and gradually inches toward the parking spot.

"Ok, so you want to start cutting the wheel now." Lorenzo gently directs her as he leans against his window, looking at the side of his car to make sure he can see everything. Following his order, Alison begins to slowly turn the wheel but not fast enough as she should be.

"Turn more, Alison. Keep turning."

"Put just _a little_ gas to move in."

"Ok, watch the- slow down. Watch the truck."

"Straighten the wheel, Ali, You're going to hit the truck."

"Alison, straighten the wheel."

"Alison-Alison! The truck! _STOP_!"

Alison immediately slams her foot on the brakes causing her and Lorenzo to jerk forward. Coming just inches away from hitting the parked truck, Ali lets out hastily breaths as Lorenzo closes his eyes and clutches the seatbelt around his chest as if he just saw his life flash before his eyes.

"I'm not doing this again. I don't like it. I-I can't do this. I can't do this." Alison rapidly stammers out of her mouth as her whole body starts to tremor at the mixture of anxiety and Lorenzo's yelling.

"Alison…" Lorenzo reaches out for her hand, putting his hand on top of hers.

"Nonono. I'm done-I'm done with this. I can't do this. I can't-"

"Alison, look at me." Lorenzo lightly grabs the blonde's stuttering face and turns it to face him, " _Look at me._ " Her darting eyes find his calming brown eyes, "Breathe, okay?" He mocks the motions of taking a deep breath in and slowly exhaling it out several times until Alison actually imitates him.

"Breathe in….and out. In….and out." Alison does the calming technique until she feels a relief of those tense nerves that were going out of control, her eyes locked into Lorenzo's the whole time. "Everything is ok. You're ok. All you need is some practice and you'll get better."

"Please don't make me do it again, Lorenzo." Alison quietly begs as her eyes widen up with uneasiness.

"I won't." He unclicks his seatbelt and unlocks his door, "I'm going to do it this time." Leaving the passenger side with Alison following his lead, the two exchange seats with Lorenzo taking the back reins of his vehicle.

…..

"You've never really explained why you've decided to take me over here." Alison remarks as she stands idly in Lorenzo's living room, looking at his décor in the process.

"You're always cooped up in your house. The only time you leave is if you have your sessions or anything else mandatory." Lorenzo walks over from his fridge with a bottle of water, "I just wanted to get you out of that."

"And into your apartment?"

Lorenzo shrugs, "I had to take you somewhere. You won't stand for anything else." Alison looks at him with an arched eyebrow before Lorenzo looks down at the refreshment in his hand, "Here, you're probably thirsty after all of that we just went through."

"Thanks…" Alison appreciatively takes the handed drink. Keeping her eyes low for a moment's ponder, Alison raises them up to catch Lorenzo's gaze. "Why are you doing all of this?"

"Doing all of what?"

" _This_." Alison lifts her arms as she looks around Lorenzo's place, "Why couldn't you be like the other law enforcement officers and take this as a job and not allow it into your personal life? Why are you wasting your time on me?"

"My time…You're not a waste, Alison." Lorenzo places his hands down his front pockets, "I…I just want to protect you. When I'm not around you, I worry. I worry that something might happen and I won't be there. When I go to bed, I pray that you're safe for the night and that I won't have to frantically jump out of bed to go searching for you when I get that call."

Alison shakes her head as she lets out a small chuckle with her eyes and mouth not correlating humor but more in amused disbelief.

"What?" Lorenzo furs his brows at Alison's minor reaction, not knowing what to take from it.

"It's nothing." She dismisses him. "Uhm-do you have anything I could munch on, in the mean time? I haven't really ate yet."

Lorenzo nods and walks back to his kitchen, seeing what he could put together as a quick snack for the both of them.

Out of earshot, Alison shakes her head with minor hindrance building within her. Alison mumbles a few words under her breath as she turns the opposite direction of Lorenzo.

…

Sitting at the kitchen bar across from Aubrey as she slides a knife out of her Paula Deen's knives set –dancing to the music playing from her phone- Emily goes between watching her prep her watermelon to get ready to slice and looking down at her phone, scrolling through her social media.

"I must say…" Aubrey turns into Emily's direction with a bit of a sway to get the bowl needed to put the watermelon in, "I'm loving this rich _brunette_ look. Makes you look so tamed compared to the badass look you had."

" _Hey_ ," Emily smiles with a laugh as she points her phone at her, "I'm still a badass."

Feeling the music that's surrounded the girls, Aubrey wavers from side to side as she sings along with the song, putting on a small performance for Emily as she uses the chef's knife as a microphone,

" _Take me by the tongue and I'll know you.  
Kiss me 'til you're drunk and I'll show you all the moves like Jagger.  
I've got the moves like Jagger.  
I've got the mooooves like Jagger."_

Watching Aubrey become a replica Adam Levine in his new recent hit, Emily clicks her camera icon and turns her phone sideways to be able to capture Aubrey in the moment. Instead of lunging for the phone like Emily would expect her to do, Aubrey kicked up the performance level as she focuses on the camera for the second part of the chorus.

" _I don't need to try to control you.  
Look into my eyes and I'll own you with them moves like Jagger.  
I've got the moves like Jagger.  
I've got the mooooves like Jagger."_

"You are a natural," Emily calls over the music as she presses the stop button on her screen, "You should audition for _America's Got Talent._ "

"So they can give me all three X's in the first 10 seconds? I rather not get bashed by Simon." Aubrey walks around the bar to Emily as she went to her gallery to see the playback. Watching herself lip sync and dance to the music causes her and Emily to laugh before Aubrey walks herself back into the kitchen. "Ok, now delete it."

"Delete it? No way!" Emily eyebrows shoot up in chuckles as she exits out of her gallery, "Nothing is more hotter than watching you sing a song with a huge knife dangerously close to your face as a mic. All of that knife play and dancing without you managing to stab yourself? You need to go on television _asap_ because that's _raw_ , untapped talent."

"Oh, _hush_." Aubrey playfully silences Emily as she drives the knife into the watermelon to start her first cut. With the song fading and a new song soon to begin in the background, Emily's phone buzzes in her hands.

 _Today 6:17pm_

 _Mom:_ How long are you staying over Hanna's when you two get back from the movies? Dinner should be ready in about an hour.

"Oh my gosh! I haven't heard this song in forever!" Aubrey excitedly squeals as she higher up the volume on her phone to as loud as it can go.

 _Emily:_ Not too long. I'll make it in

The melody of the new song waves its way into Emily's mind causing her to stop typing mid-sentence. The overwhelming feeling of dread. That unadulterated awfulness sinking right to her gut as she begins to feel a sense of terror. The sudden, horrible knowledge just strikes home and for an instant, all she can feel is this awful certainty of tragedy.

"Can you…can you turn that off…" Her words barely makes a sound to the other occupied brunette in the room as Emily can feel the sweat pores on her face open up.

"Reaching for something in the distance. So close you can almost taste it. Release your inhibitions!" Aubrey vocals adds with the loud music as she cuts the fresh fruit into the bowl.

" **Am I the only one that has goosebumps?"**

" **No..."**

With the sounds of voices echoing in her head, competing with the loud music, Emily begins clenching her teeth as her breathing became shallow. With the phone still in her grasp, the brunette's hands start to tremble as the wave of unescapable fear kicks in.

"Feel the rain on your skin! No one else can feel it for you! Only you can let it in!" Aubrey continues on with her karaoke session.

And just like that.

 _Autopilot_.

" **Am I the only one that has goosebumps?" Aria's asks the three other girls behind her as she looks out into the crowd of dressed up mannequins.**

" **No..." Emily, Spencer and Hanna reply back in a hushed whisper as their eyes also feast on the oddly planted prom goers.**

 **Hanna looks around for any sign of life on the floor, "Where's Mona?"**

" **I don't think she's here yet." Spencer softly replies**

" _ **No one else! No one else!  
Can speak the words on your lips!"**_

" _Drench yourself in words unspoken!  
Live your life with arms wide open!"_

" **Today is where your book begins,"**

" _Feel the rain on your skin!  
_ _ **No one else can feel it for you!**_ _  
Only you can let it in!_ _ **  
No one else! No one else!**_ _  
Can speak the words on your lips!"_

" **Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome your prom queen,** **Alison DiLaurentis** **!"**

" **Charles! We have something for you!"**

" **RUN!"**

" **We can climb it!"**

" **STOP!"**

" _ **STOP!"**_

" _ **STOP!"**_

"Do you want a-" Aubrey turns around to see a frightened image that she certainly didn't expect to see. Emily sitting in the chair with the looks of all the blood draining out of her face along with sweat building instead, her hands shaky and her eyes widen in fear as her body sat stiff as a board. Aubrey immediately drops the knife and turns off the music before she rushes to Emily's side. "Emily! Emily! What's wrong?!"

" _ **Nonono**_ **!" Spencer yells out behind her slammed door.**

" **No!** _ **Stop**_ **!" Hanna screams echoes down the hallways of the bunker.**

 **With the doors slamming shut behind Emily, she immediately jumps and turns around to see a hooded figure waiting in the far corner in her room. Emily heart jumps into her throat as she feels her throat tightening and legs weaken. Without another second, the figure charges towards the brunette.**

" _ **No, please don't do this!**_ **"**

The intense fear in Emily's eyes causes Aubrey to get scared as she bends down to Emily's level. She cautiously puts her hand reassuringly on Emily unstable hands, "Emily-"

" _NO_!" Emily uses her left hand with her phone tightly gripping it to strike Aubrey's face with such force, causing her to twist her body to the side, giving Emily the opportunity to get away. Aubrey stumbling back holding her nose with both hands, Emily kicks out of the chair and quickly staggers backwards, hitting her back on the wall. "Why are you doing this?!" She shakenly yells out, unable to catch her breath as her legs weaken underneath her. Feeling her heart about to rip out of her chest, Emily slides down to the floor with her whole body trembling in distress.

Pulling her hand away, Aubrey looks down at her fingers and sees the fresh coat of blood soaking into her hands from the bloody nose she got from Emily's attack. Standing there blindsided trying to understand what just happened, Aubrey watches Emily sit on the floor startled with her chest heaving up and down. She sits there for a couple more seconds until she blinks a couple of times back into reality, looking around at the floor around her. Her eyes quickly drift upwards to see Aubrey about 10 feet away with a bloody nose.

" _Wha_ …" She shakes her head, wondering why she's on the floor. Wondering why there's bloodshed. Wondering why Aubrey looks alarmed. "W-what happened?"

Not saying word, Aubrey stands there still in shock, staring down at Emily as the blood from her nose begins to leak down to her lips with a couple drips landing onto her hardwood floor.

Emily attempts to desperately scramble to her feet, "Aubrey what hap-"

" _Nono_!" Aubrey eyes widen, immediately stopping Emily with the extension of her bloody hand as she backs a few steps away.

Emily's face crumples into a rueful grimace as her body slinks back down to the floor. Trying to understand the strange phenomenon that has never happened to her before, Emily keeps her eyes trained on Aubrey as her mouthed worked on producing words. Only to no prevail with merely noises came out. However, the sight of the blood coming down Aubrey's nose and putting two and two together, Emily sits on the floor feeling the wave of regret and nausea knowing that she most likely caused the blunt trauma.

 _But how…?_

 _W-why…?_

"I-I-It's okay." Aubrey finally stammers out with a quivering breath, her eyes drifting down, leaving Emily gaze before she slowly walks over to her kitchen side. She gets to the sink and lifts up the faucet handle to the left for hot water. Leaving a bloody imprint of her fingers on things she touches, Aubrey grabs the dishwashing soap and begins to lather her hands. "It's okay…"

…

Making her family dinner like she intended to, Emily sat in silence for the majority of the dinner as she forked around with her food, eating some but leaving the rest. After what she just went through, the thought of chowing down her mother's special of spaghetti and meatballs wasn't the most thrilling. After everyone was beginning to wrap up dinner and turn it in for the night, Emily puts her plate in the fridge as her mother rinses off her plate.

"I'm going for a quick walk, if you don't mind…" Emily asks in more of a statement than a question.

"A walk right now?" Pam dries off her plate as she turns towards Emily, looking over her overall shrug demeanor, "It's pretty late to go venturing outside."

"I…I…" Emily runs her hands through her full dark brown hair, looking down at the ground rather at her mother, "I just need some fresh air. It's something that Dr. Sullivan recommended me to do whenever I feel…. _stuffed_."

Putting her plate away and crossing her arms as she ponders, Mrs. Fields gives in fairly quickly to her daughter's feelings over her safety, "Okay. I'm only giving you 15 minutes. After that, I want you inside, do you understand?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"And only on this street, I don't want you any farther. Walk up and down if you have to but you're not leaving this area."

"Yes, Ma'am."

…

Walking out in the still night air, Emily deviates from her mother's orders and steps off the sidewalk onto a dirt path leading to the wooded area towards the back of her house. With so many things trapped in her mind, warping her at now full speed, she needed a place to get away.

Even if she only had 15 minutes to do so.

Even if those 15 minutes were consumed by nothing but flashbacks.

" **I-I-It's okay." Aubrey finally stammers out with a quivering breath, her eyes drifting down, leaving Emily gaze before she slowly walks over to her kitchen side. She gets to the sink and lifts up the faucet handle to the left for hot water. Leaving a bloody imprint of her fingers on things she touches, Aubrey grabs the dishwashing soap and begins to lather her hands. "It's okay…"**

" **Aubrey…" Emily slowly gets up from the floor, trying not to make any sudden, sharp movements, "did…did I do that to you?"**

"… **..** _ **You know**_ **…I don't get in many fights." Aubrey rips a paper towel sheet nearby and wets it to make it damp enough to wipe her nose and the blood on her mouth, "Only a few when I was younger. But never have I ever had someone hit me that hard." Aubrey lets out a nervous chuckle, trying to lighten the mood although she's still shaken up, "You-you have a mean right hook..."**

" **Aubrey, I am so sorry." Emily makes her way over to kitchen by the sink Aubrey stands at with deep regret and sorrow ruminating her voice, "I…I'm not a violent person." Emily hangs her head as she tries to find her words, "Y-y-you have to believe me. This….This-I-I don't know what came over me."**

 **Turning off her sink facet, Aubrey throws away the bloody paper towel and throws it in the trash, ripping out another sheet and places it over her still leaking nose. "Emily, look at me." Aubrey insists causing Emily to raise her head in shame at the sight of Aubrey still bleeding. "It's okay. I'm okay." Aubrey gives an encouraging smile, "Lucky for you, I can take a hit." She laughs as she removes the paper from her nose, looking at the bloodshed. "See, it's not that bad. Now I have an actual excuse to get a Hollywood nose-job."**

 **Seeing how calm Aubrey was after the incident relieved Emily just a little enough to give a faint smile at her attempt to cheer her up. However, she knows deep down inside, she probably just terrified her in a way she wished she hadn't.**

x

 **"Ok!" Hanna throws her hands in the air, "Quit the bullshit, Emily. You're gonna tell me everything** _ **right now**_ **. You were standing patiently still while we were up there. Spencer mentions Alison and you tense up? You allow her inside and the next thing I know, I'm being dragged back here within that same second. You only drink when you're heartbroken. So, if Alison has you sneaking out and buying liquor off of creeps off the street, we're going to fucking talk about it."**

x

 **Eyeing the living room table with a silver plate of four shot glasses, a small ice container and a glass of bourbon, Emily swiftly walks towards the beverage to get herself contented. "Absolute honesty?" Emily asks looking down as she twists the cap of the glass and pours herself a small amount of alcohol into her glass.**

 **Watching Emily help herself, Alison furrows her eyebrows, "Since when did you become a drinker?"**

 **"I've always been. Since you left, or I mean** _ **died**_ **, I've always had a thing for alcohol." Emily raises the glass at eye level as if she inspecting the drink, "Although, I do say my tastes have definitely matured over the years."**

 **x**

 **Emily uses her last bullet as a headshot, hitting the bandit square between the eyes. She continues to pull back the trigger, although it spits nothing out in return, she keeps squeezing.**

 _ **Click**_

 **She keeps squeezing.**

 _ **Click**_

 **Keeps squeezing.**

 _ **Click**_

 **Squeezing.**

 _ **Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.**_

x

" **Tell me what's going on! I'm worried about you."**

" **Why is everyone so worried about me?!" Emily throws her hands up defensively as her voice rises. "Why can't I have time to myself without everyone on my dick?!"**

" **Because we fucking are!" Hanna returns the loud tone.**

x

 **Emily breathes out with a low and demanding voice, "Get the fuck off my street."**

" **You don't own shit." Alison furs her brows in bewilderment at Emily's command. "This street, this sidewalk, none of it belongs to you." She steps in face to face with the visibly heated/hurt redhead, "I can walk** _ **anywhere I want**_ **,** _ **whenever**_ **I damn well please."**

" **FUCK YOU." Emily loses control as she shoves Alison out of her face, roaring loud enough to get her attention. Completely stunned, Alison staggers back at the force Emily used against her. "Fuck you!" Emily fails her arm at Alison's existence as the skin around her eyes drew tight in pent up aggression.**

x

" _ **Excuse me**_ **?"** **A deep crease appeared on Emily's forehead as she narrowed her eyes at Alison standing in front of her.**

" **You're fucking excused." Alison spits out with bitterness roughening her words, "Matter of fact, find the door and excuse yourself out of my damn house."**

x

 **Spencer pushes on. "When was the last time you slept?"**

 **"Last night." Emily crosses her arms as she narrows her eyes at Spencer.**

 **"You're lying."**

 **"How would you know?"**

 **"Because I once** _ **had**_ **your face." Spencer leans forward towards Emily, "It looks like you're not only sleeping but not eating neither. Your face looks sunken and-"**

 **Emily scrambles to grab her bag, books and rises to her feet, "Ok, I didn't come here to be interrogated by Inspector gadget and her trusty sidekicks." She annoyingly spits out.**

x

 **Emily gasps herself out of her sleep drenched in sweat. Grabbing her chest as she tries to catch her breath, she frantically looks around her room, thrashing her sheets around.**

 _ **BEEP...BEEP...BEEP!**_

 **Emily desperately tries to jump out of her bed but gets tangled within her sheets around her legs and falls hands first to the floor. "** _ **N-n-nonon-n-nonono…**_ **" She fearfully mumbles to herself as she overturns to her back, kicking the intertwined sheets off her. She hurriedly slides backwards on her back before she changes to a stomach crawl as the piercing beeping sounds become louder and louder. She scuttles up to her window and wildly pulls apart her curtains just to see a work truck on her street beeping as the workers operate on some kind of minor construction. Taking a few moments to realize her reality, Emily's breathing becomes less shallow and a bit more orderly as she incessantly blinks at the sudden amount of sunlight. She pulls the curtains back together and places her hands on her face as she continues to get her breathing under control.**

x

 **Wayne glances over at Emily and catches her eyes, "Sometimes the feeling of wanting someone comes and you feel completely helpless. And….it's okay to go through those feelings. But the moment you let those feelings become you, that's when it's** _ **not**_ **okay."**

x

 **With her heart breaking inside from hearing such words from her daughter, Pam walks over to Emily and places her hand in her hair, gently rubbing as Emily buries her face into the counter. "I understand, Em. I just wish you would talk to us. Anything you need help with we can help. I don't want you doing anything reckless to endanger yourself."**

x

" **Oh-Hi!" The guy quickly greets Emily out of surprise. He offers his hand out for a handshake, "** _ **Miley, right**_ **?"**

" **Yeah," Emily nods as she returns the firm handshake.**

" **Good, good." He wipes his hands on his pants as he grabs the small case out of his lap, "I don't have a lot of time because I'm on break but here is everything I listed on the ad." He discreetly unzips the black casing and turns it to face Emily as he points to all of its amenities, "Sig Sauer P238 Nitron .380 ACP with two standard mags, 20 Sig Sauer Elite Performance Self Defense Rounds, 100 95 gr Remington UMC target rounds** _ **aaaaand**_ **…" He unzips another compartment of the case, "a Crossbreed style hybrid IWB holster."**

x

 **Completely amused, Emily blurts out a laugh as Dr. Sullivan smirks to herself. "Yeah." Emily nods her head with laughter still sounding, "That's exactly it. That's who I put all my aggression on."**

x

 **You feel so fucking good, Alison…" Emily voice drops to a husk, dripping in hunger with every word that escapes her mouth.**

 **Moving from on top to the side of her, Emily pulls Alison as close as she can, draping her right leg over Alison's body. As they deepen the kiss, letting their tongues slide together in unison, Emily runs her hands up to Alison's hair, gripping at the roots.**

x

" **So you admit that you have ill feelings?" Dr. Sullivan asks in the midst of Emily's sarcasm.**

x

 **Starting off slow, Emily nuzzles her face into Alison's neck as she moves her left hand from the blonde's neck to her leg, running her fingers up and down to induce shivers flowing up Alison's spine. Without warning, Emily lifts up Alison's left leg at the back of her knee, getting a good angle with her building stroke speed.**

x

" **Towards Spencer?" Emily's laughter begins to die down as she leans comfortably to the side, "Yeah.** _ **Totally**_ **."**

x

 **With Emily on top, pushing into her with Alison's legs still wrapped around her, Emily's hands frantically roams Alison's warm to the touch skin, caressing her sides and hips until she glides her way to Alison's thighs. She felt out of control. Out of control of controlling her temptations but very much of controlling how she wants Alison at that exact moment.**

x

" **Towards Alison DiLaurents."**

x

" **Don't call me anymore, don't come by for unexpected visits..." Not wanting to hear what Emily has to say, Alison walks out of the living to the direction of the front door, unlocks it and holds it open for Emily. "Just** _ **leave**_ **."**

" **Are you fucking serious?" Emily rises up from the couch, beginning to approach the blonde.**

" **I am fucking serious. If you can't see the problem with this then you need to realize that** _ **you**_ **are the problem and that you need to leave. I already have enough issues on my plate, I don't need another one."**

 **Making two black vertical lines between her eyes, Emily stands to Alison, looking down upon her.**

" _ **Go**_ **." Alison impatiently extends her hand out the door, motioning Emily to her vehicle. "Get out and go find some help because you trying to dump your world of problems on me isn't happening."**

Hearing the sound of a snapped piece of wood behind her instantly pulls Emily out of her recollections. Immediately turning around, Emily's eyes frantically dart around her surroundings, trying to make out any silhouette of a human figure. Completely frozen in the darkness of the night, Emily strains her eyes as she slowly slides her hand to the side of her hip, feeling the metal she brought along with her just in case.

 _Show yourself, Charles._

 _I dare you._

Hearing a round of footsteps over crunchy leaves, twigs, and other wood floor substances, Emily heart races as she rapidly reaches into her hip, pulls out her gun, takes off the safety, and aims at a direction in front of her, finger on the trigger. Ready to pull.

Stepping into her line of sight, the mysterious person on the receiving end unnoticeably walks right into Emily's path and instantly gasps, putting their hands up.

"….. _Em…Emily_?!"

Emily sighs out a long breath as she lowers her gun, her entire body shaking at the thought of her about to shoot someone. " _Alison_ …" She huffs out as she bends over, putting her hands on her knees, "What the hell are you doing out here?"

"What the hell?!" Alison surrenders as she walks towards the shaken up brunette with an upset hushed voice. "You….you were about to shoot me?! When did you get a gun?!"

Emily straightens up, taking deep breathes to calm her erratic heartbeat, "It's for protection. I..." She pushes the safety lock on the gun, lifts up the end of her white tee and slides the weapon into the hostel on her hip. "I thought you were Charles."

"So that's your game plan, _huh_?" Alison flicks her hand at Emily's hip at the indication of her gun, "Walk around trigger happy, ready to murder a person in cold blood?"

"Can you please just stop?!" Emily voice breaks as she raises her trembling hand to her hair, running through it as she looked around to make sure they were the only two in the woods, "I-I-I almost had to use that thing and-and I would appreciate it if y-you didn't...you didn't grill me right now. I'm having _the worst_ fucking night, okay?"

"Where did you get it?" Alison narrows her eyes with her interrogation, insensitive to Emily's heightened anxiety.

"Just…don't..." Emily swallows down hard, catching her labored breathes, "Don't tell anyone about this. _Please_." The brunette replies with more of a command than a plea.

"Don't worry. Your precious little secret won't get to your parents or the cops because honestly...I don't care what you do." Alison mocks as she makes her way past Emily onto her own set path. Sighing out a shaky sigh, Emily checks her phone to see that she's about to go over the time limit her mother had set for her if she doesn't start walking back right now. Without looking back at Alison, Emily starts walking in the direction of her house.

"You know what Spencer told me?" Alison turns around causing her sudden call out to make Emily stop in her steps, "After our SOS meeting when you took off?"

" _Alison_..." Emily huffs out with a tired tone.

" _Do you know what she told me_?" The amount of demand coming from Alison makes Emily give up, bracing for whatever Alison is about to relinquish out at her.

"What did she tell you?" Emily defeatedly asks.

Alison takes a slow step in her direction as she tries to find calmness in her words, "She told me that she's proud of me. With everything I've been through, she's the first person to tell me how strong I am and how proud she is of me." Alison shakes her head as she takes another step towards Emily, "That's something I haven't heard from _anyone_ since I've been back. Not including Dr. Sullivan because being paid about $200 every session, you'll say just about anything to boost your patient's morale. But that's what she told me. _Spencer_!" Alison lets out a chuckle of disbelief as she raises her arms, "Of all people, Spencer. Even with all the shit we've been through with one another, she spoke on my behalf. And what about your favorite Rosewood member, Lorenzo? Yeah, he's said some things too."

Emily pinches her eyebrows together at Alison's last words as she starts not liking what direction it's going and chooses to end it before it starts. "I-"

"He told me that he worries about me whenever he has to leave my side. That he prays every night that he doesn't get a call from the precinct at 3am that I went missing and that he has to go out looking for me." Alison bites her bottom lip as she peers deep into Emily's eyes out of frustration, "You know what Spencer and Lorenzo have in common? Their words?" Alison leans into Emily's space, " _They weren't your words._ You know what your words are to me? Hmm! Let me think!" Alison taps her lips with her finger as she tilts her head up to the night sky, pondering. "Oh, I got it! _Fuck you, Alison!_ _You are the sole reason all of my life has gone to shit!_ " Alison recalls making Emily cross her arms uncomfortably. Being in the moment, saying things to someone, you don't realize how you sound until someone repeats it to you. "Yeah, that's what comes out of your mouth when you speak to me. See the difference? And because of that right there - _Exactly right there-_ is why I cut you off. And I hate you for that." Alison tightens her hands into fists beside her as she shook her head, "I hate you for making me do that. You bitch and moan about how you want a relationship but your words cut deeper than any text from A."

With the final knockout punch, Emily feels winded with Alison's last words. She clenches her teeth as she upheld eye contact with the blonde, wanting desperately to pull away but couldn't.

"I felt like you should know since I decided that I never want to see you again." Alison softly remarks, staring at Emily before she begins to walk away back onto the path she was walking on prior. Prior to fully disappearing, Alison turns around once more and gives her last remarks. "What colleges have you been accepted to?"

Confused at the change up on conversation, Emily weakly responds, " _Wha_ -why does that matter?"

"What colleges?"

"A few of them: Berkeley, Stanford, Texas A&M…" Emily lists off a couple colleges on her plate.

"Do yourself a favor and take the farthest one away from here." Emily stands her ground speechless. She parts her lips to say something but ends up saying nothing out of shame. Alison looks over her one last time before she turns back around and walks out of Emily's sight for good, leaving her with more issues than she left the house with.

 _So much for clearing my head._


	12. Chapter 12: Like A Thief In The Night

CHAPTER #12: Like A Thief In The Night.

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

" **I'm sure they took your feelings into consideration." Veronica walks over to her kitchen island with her cup of coffee, standing next to Spencer who is trying to comprehend the bomb being dropped, "And,** _ **yes**_ **, it sucks but it came from up high."**

" _ **What**_ **?** _ **The police**_ **?" Spencer rolls her eyes as she walks away from the island towards her ready toast in the toaster.**

 **Veronica tightens her lip as she gave her daughter an unamused look, "The school board."**

" **What?" Emily asks as she takes a seat at her dining room table, baffled at the sudden news.**

" **They think your attendance could endanger the other students' safety." Pam places down Emily's glass down in front of her as she sets up breakfast, "And with the amount of things this masked bandit has done to you girls, I don't completely disagree."**

" **I do." Hanna pours herself a glass of orange juice, "They can't punish us."**

" **It's** _ **not**_ **a punishment." Ashley sighs out a disagreement.**

" _ **Really**_ **? Being disinvited to your own prom? What would you call it?" Hanna's voice raises a note higher out of irritation at her mother defending the school board instead of her own daughter.**

" _ **A blessing.**_ **" Ella places Aria's school textbook into Aria's purse, "If Charles, A, whatever he calls himself can do all these elaborate schemes just to taunt you guys, he's not gonna be scared to crash a school party."**

" **Well then, fill the ballroom with police!" Aria actively suggests as she takes her bag from her mother, "It's a fairy-tale theme, they can come as the village idiots."**

" **You can still celebrate that night in a quiet, more intimate way." Ella counters Aria's proposal with another proposal, "Veronica's offered to host a small gathering in the backyard barn."**

" _ **You're kidding me."**_

" **Seriously?" Spencer shoves her reading material into her bag.**

" **Why not?" Veronica shrugs at the idea with a concentrated look on Spencer, not understanding what's wrong with having a prom in her barn.**

" **Because it's filled with Melissa's stuff!" Spencer defies with aggravation as she walks past her mother towards the fridge. "How is that a banquet hall?"**

" **You can roll up a rug." Veronica returns back the attitude, not budging from her plan.**

" **And what?" Spencer opens the fridge doors as she searches for some spread for her toast, "Take our prom picture on top of a washer-dryer?"**

" **This…this isn't fair!" Hanna puts her glass into the sink as she slings her purse over her shoulder, "We get stripped of what's supposed to be the best night of our lives just because of this obsessed freak?"**

" **Hanna, you don't have a choice." Ashley crosses her arms.**

" **That barn is not big enough for us, our dates** _ **and**_ **our poufy dresses." Spencer pushes back in an attempt to sway her mother away from her decision.**

" **You'll open a window."** **Veronica shuts Spencer down with her motherly look.**

"That's what she said?" Emily asks Spencer as all five girls sit in the lounge area of The Brew after their recent news.

" _Oh, no. There was more_." Spencer replies as she cupped her hot coffee in her hands, "She said something about hanging twinkly lights on Melissa's shower curtain. But by that time, I was already halfway up the stairs."

"I guess it could be worse." Aria's eyes find Spencer as Spencer nuzzle her lips around the brim of her cup.

Hanna pinches her eyebrows together at Aria's attempt at being optimistic, "Really? How?"

Aria eyes goes from Hanna's then drifts off to the side as she taps her own cup of coffee in contemplation, "….I'm thinking!"

Spencer shakes her head as she turns in Alison's direction, catching her gloomy, distant expression, "Ali, are you okay?"

Alison snaps out of thought as she raises her head, "Yeah, I'm fine." She looks outwards for a few more moments before she speaks up again, "Even if we went to the real prom, who would we hang out with besides each other?"

"That's true…." Hanna agrees as she slides her hand to the back of her neck with her elbow resting on top of her chair's armrest, "Everyone would just stare at us like we were in some fishbowl."

"And we wouldn't be safe." Aria adds in her opinion as she sides with Hanna, "We already know that Charles has some twisted thing for formals. We've already been to one psycho-prom that he hosted."

Everyone wanders off into their own silent thoughts as they exchange looks with one another. Emily's eyes make their way towards Alison but, as expected, Alison looks down at her cup of coffee, excluding Emily out.

…..

An older woman emerges from the back door of the shop, walking towards Emily and Aubrey, "Can I help you two young ladies to anything?"

"Uhm, if you can give us a minute to decide, please?" Aubrey respectfully asks the older employee.

"Sure can. Just ring this here bell to let me know when you guys are ready, okay?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Aubrey smiles at the woman, sending her back through the back doors.

"So, as you can tell with the amount of money I'm carrying," Aubrey pulls out a ten and a five dollar bill out of her wallet, turning to face Emily "I'm _kind of_ a big deal right now." She flashes a smile as she stretches the bills in between her hands, "So, choose your pickings. It's on me."

Emily returns the smile as she waves her hand, "Nothing, honestly. You don't have to get me anything."

"What about this one?" Aubrey ignores Emily's request as she looks at the glass display of the freshly baked goods, filling the store with a sweet, mouthwatering scent. "You like Banana bread scones with brown sugar glaze?"

"I don't wa-'

"Or what about hazel nut butter muffins?" Aubrey bites her lip as she places her hand on the warm glass, "Mmmm. _Ay Dios._ " She tilts her head in Emily's direction, "You can never go wrong with muffins smelling like that."

"Will you stop?" Emily giggles as she turns away from Aubrey and her persuading antics.

"Will you let me do _something_?" Aubrey whines, leaning towards Emily with sad puppy eyes.

"Will you go to prom with me?" Emily turns back around with a hopeful smile.

" _Uhmm_ …" With her mouth hung open in a surprised smile, Aubrey looks down at the fifteen dollars in her hands, "I think that's a little over my budget…"

"Sorry, that's..." Emily looks away with her smile slowly fading with the awkwardness of her forward question, "Not how I wanted to ask you. I…" She narrows her eyes at Aubrey's speechless expression to see if she completely screwed up her chances, "I...did wanna ask you, but...If-if you think it's weird…"

Aubrey goes to say something but just opts for a smile instead.

"Yeah, it's weird." Emily drops her eyes to the floor as she shoves her hands in her back pocket, "I get it."

"Prom was never really my thing…" Aubrey begins to explain, "The whole spending $400 dollars on a dress you'll only wear once, just standing around to school approved music in an open space, it's…it's kind of overrated." Aubrey lightly tip toes over her words, trying not to insult Emily while she's already down.

"But this one's different." Emily perks up, "We're not going to be in an open space with the rest of the school. It's just going to be us with my friends and their dates-"

"Emily," Aubrey politely cuts her off as she grabs Emily's hand, gazing into her brown eyes with a small smile, "Your friends don't know me. Now, that's not an assertion to get me to meet the whole gang but….I don't think it's the best idea."

Emily shakes her head, frowning with her eyebrows, "I'm not embarrassed of you if that's where you're getting at."

"I'm not saying you are but look at me." Aubrey and Emily both look down at Aubrey's current overall appearance. Wearing a red tank with a design of the Monopoly game square, _Luxury Tax. Pay $100_ , Aubrey finishes off with black skinnies, red low tops converses, and accessories from her neck to her wrists to complete her simple but cute look. "I am a 21 year old girl that has more than enough tattoos that could make any parent uncomfortable. And with others being uncomfortable, I'm going to be uncomfortable and then I'll be the ultimate blame as to why your prom sucked."

"It's already going to suck but it doesn't matter." Emily tightens her grasp of Aubrey's hand within their hand-holding. "You don't have to worry about anybody else. It'll be just me and you for the night. _Besides_ …" Emily's smile returns once again but more of the sly kind as she lightly swings their hands side to side, "I think you'll look absolutely gorgeous in a slim formal dress."

Aubrey raises a curious eyebrow, "Oh, really?"

"Mhmm." Emily nods, "Even if you wanted to wear long sleeves, I could see you in a _tight and sexy_ red dress. You know, the one that has a slit up the side to show off your nice tan legs?"

"Yeah?"

"And with your long, thick black hair, you can put it up in sexy high ponytail. Adding a couple stands coming down on the sides." Emily softly traces the side of Aubrey's face with her finger, "Do a little sultry look with your makeup to bring out your hazel eyes-"

"What about underneath the dress?" Aubrey whispers, cutting Emily off mid-sentence.

Emily smirks with a head nod, "I think a little secret from Victoria would be nice."

"But that would be for a post-prom occasion."

" _That would be for a post-prom occasion_." Emily repeats as she sucks in her bottom lip.

Aubrey steps in closer and cups Emily's face, gazing back and forth into her eyes. She slowly pulls her face into hers as she lets out a soft whisper, "….I'm sorry, babe. Still not going."

Emily suggestive smirk quickly changes into a disappointed pout. Her hands overlap over Aubrey's as she releases Emily's face and brings them back down. "With everything I just described you weren't even _a little bit_ interested?"

"It's tempting but," Aubrey shakes her head, twisting her mouth to the side, "I think I'll sit this one out, princess."

Emily sadly nods as she lets out a sigh. She turns her gazes from Aubrey back to the bakery display as Aubrey decides to ring the bell for assistance.

…..

Only going to class for the official " _half the school day_ ", Emily continues on with her afternoon making sure she has everything she needs for the prom the next day. In the middle of her last minute shopping, Emily gets a text from Ezra, something she sees rarely. After her purchases, she takes off to The Brew to where Ezra mentioned that she had a visitor.

Emily opens the shop's entrance doors and looks through the crowd for a familiar face.

"Nicole?"

Looking up from her conversation with Ezra, Nicole sees Emily for the first time in a long time, "Hi!" She gets up and rushes Emily for a warm embrace, " _Well_ , at least you still look like Emily," She gives out a chuckle through her Australian accent.

"What are you doing here?"

"Well, we finished the project. So, I came back to see my dad and thought I'd make a little detour."

"Hey, do, either of you want coffee?" Ezra politely interjects between the two's reunion.

"Yeah."

"I-I'll do it." Emily jumps at the job, getting ready to go back work.

"No, no, no. I will get it." Ezra stops Emily with a hand on her shoulder. He points his hand at the open table next to them, "Sit. Visit."

Nicole and Emily take their seat at the small table ready to catch up. However, with a strain in Nicole's smile, Emily picks up her uncomfort. "Ezra... told you, didn't he?"

"Don't be mad at him, please." Nicole gives a sad smile as she leans forward into the table.

"No. I-it's okay." Emily assures her, "I'd rather you find out the story from him than me having to tell it again."

Nicole gives an understanding nod while the silence yet again makes things a little tense around them.

"Um," Emily speaks up to break the silence, "Doesn't your dad live in Florida?

"Yeah…." Nicole laughs as she wrings her hands underneath the table, "Alright, so you were more than just _a little_ detour but, um, I didn't want to do this over the phone." A worker walks over and places down their coffees in front of them, Nicole thanking him but Emily's eyes still stuck on Nicole.

"What's going on?" She asks worriedly.

"I'm a supervisor now and I have been asked to put together a team for an eight week project in Thailand. And I have this crazy idea of reuniting our Caribbean crew." Nicole smiles in hopes of Emily's approval, " _Is that crazy_?"

"Uh, when does it start?" Emily gives a small smile back.

"Mid-June. So basically, you could just fly there in your cap and gown. But I'd... I would want you to change before you pick up a power tool." Nicole giggles as Emily nods her head in understanding. Her smile fades as she leans back into her chair.

Nicole picks up on Emily's lack of enthusiasm and brings down her excitement level, "You already made summer plans…?"

Emily shakes her head, softly smiling, "No."

"You-you think it's a bit far from home?"

"No."

"You heard they have bugs down there the size of your head?"

"No…Yeah-yes." Emily quickly corrects herself, "It's not that, it's just... I'm still adjusting to being back. And my mom has me in _intensive_ therapy..."

"You know what, I... I shouldn't be throwing this at you right now." Nicole swiftly apologizes, I only brought it up because I remember when you got off that plane... you were a mess. But within weeks, you had that... light in your eyes. Helping other people really seemed to..."

"It did. And it-it will again. I…" Emily adjusts her sitting position to sit straight up, "I just need some time to think about it."

"No problem!" Nicole lifts her hands up in understanding, "I prefer you to talk about it with your parents and all instead of making a rushed decision."

Emily gives her an appreciative smile before changing the subject, "So! How was your last project?"

…

"I gotta stop allowing you to come over here." A voice ruminates from inside the bathroom, "Shouldn't you be with your friends tonight?"

"Well, everyone is cuddled up with their dates. Coordinating and making sure everything is ready for tomorrow night. Unlike _I_ who has _nobody_ to coordinate with because my date rejected me." Emily responds as she throws herself into Aubrey's bed on her back, looking up at the white ceiling.

Aubrey turns off the lights as she exits her bathroom, "You're never going to let me live that one down, are you?"

"Red dress and a high ponytail, that's all I'm asking." Emily flips to her stomach in a desperation plea, "It's not even going to be that long!"

Aubrey does a small jog and jumps on her bed next to Emily as she ignores her begging, "What dress are you wearing?" The brunette begins tapping on Emily's back in attempt to change the direction of the conversation.

"I have a couple dresses chosen out." Emily rests her chin on her hands as Aubrey continues to do a rhythmic tapping pattern on her back, "Probably going with my black choice since prom is actually set up to be a funeral. Death of the last days of senior year."

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

"You should have brought it over!" Aubrey playfully slaps Emily's back with a pout, "I'm not going to be able to see you in it when you put it on."

"Well guess whose fault is that?" Emily props herself up and lunges towards Aubrey, pinning her down as she hovered on top of her, "If you would be coming like I politely asked you to, you'd be able to see it, now would you?"

Aubrey tries to contain her smile by pressing her lips together, "I think you'll still have a good time even if I'm not there." She looks down at Emily's necklace dangling above her and tugs on it lightly, "Besides don't feel bad, last prom I went to was in 2008 and that was my junior year."

"Woah…" Emily's face took on a measured look as her eyebrow shot up, "I was 14 in 2008."

"Please, don't remind me right when I'm about to kiss you." Aubrey groans as she placed her hands on the sides of Emily's face, pulling her Emily down into her. The two share a few small closed mouth pecks before Aubrey brings it a step farther and softly grazes her tongue over Emily's lips.

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

"Nope," Emily stops the kiss and pushes off of Aubrey, sitting up straight at the edge of the bed, "You don't get any more kisses from me since you're making me do this solo."

"Yes, I do." Aubrey lowers her voice as she crawls over to Emily, sitting up right behind her, moving Emily's hair to the side to expose her neck, "I deserve more kisses because we won't get to have our prom night." She places soft kiss on the base of Emily's side neck, "But I say…" She works her way up to the bottom of her ear, "we just recreate it right here…" Tugging on her ear lobe with mouth, Aubrey quietly moans into Emily's ear, causing a shiver to run up her spine, " _right now_." Aubrey wraps her arms and legs around Emily, sliding her hands up and down her chest as she kisses her elsewhere on several places on the brunette's neck, varying between kisses, licks, and soft biting.

 _Buzz! Buzz!_

"Are you going to answer that?" Aubrey whispers as she nuzzles into the crook of Emily's neck.

Emily swallows down as she tries to reach for her phone placed on the night stand beside Aubrey's bed. However, every time she goes stretch out and reach for her phone Aubrey pulls her farther back. Almost contemplating on just ignoring the texts or notifications and jumping on Aubrey at that very second, Emily uses her strength to bypass Aubrey's opposite pull and grab her phone. As Aubrey continues to work on making Emily weak, Emily unlocks her phone to see that she has three new messages.

 _Today 5:50pm_

 _Mom:_ Are you over at Hanna's?

 _Today 5:55pm_

 _Hanna:_ EMILY WHERE THE FUCK ARE YOU?

 _Hanna:_ Your mom called my mom and long story short she knows you're not over my house so I quickly covered and said you were over Aria's. You better dash your ass over there right now!

 _Today 5:59pm_

 _Unknown number:_ 1 Thessalonians 5:2 &6 "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober."

Emily's heart drops down to her toes as she reads the back to back horror in her text messages. However, seeing the message from the unknown number quoting Bible verses, she is scared stiff-less in confusion. Just before she had any time to react, her phone buzzes again with another message.

 _Today 6:00pm_

 _Unknown number:_ The clocks ticks after Anno Domin. Or should I say, a different kind of A.D. … -A

Her eyes tracing the text over and over again, Emily tries to understand the riddle thrown at her.

 _Anno Domin?_

 _A.D.?_

 _What the hell is an A.D.?_

 _A.D….A.D….A.D…._

Emily's eyes enlarge as her mouth drops down in panic, "Fuck!" Emily exclaims to herself as she rips Aubrey's arms off of her and jumps out of bed.

Being utterly surprised at this sudden change in action, Aubrey moves her hair out of her face as her whole demeanor changes. "Emily, what's wrong?"

"I-I-I have to go." Emily fumbles out of her words as she pockets her phone, her keys off the night stand and darts out of the room door. Aubrey immediately hops out of bed to follow after the rickety brunette.

"Is everything ok?" Aubrey nervously asks as Emily runs toward the front of the apartment, "Was it your parents or something?"

"N-No. No." Emily rushes to the foyer closet door and yanks out her shoes.

"Do you need me to come with you?"

"No!" Emily replies a little louder than expected. She closes her eyes in attempt to calms herself down, "I'm sorry…You stay here and I'll explain later." Emily shuffles around with her shoes as she leans with one hand against the wall, trying to slip on her shoes and but keeps getting stuck.

"Emily, you're scaring me." Aubrey cautiously approaches Emily with crossed arms and a sunken, anxious look, "Whatever it is, please be careful on the road. _Please._ "

"I will." Finally getting both shoes on, Emily slams the closet door, quickly turns around to the front door and begins unlocking the locks with her trembling hands getting in the way again.

"Call me, okay?" Aubrey steps closer towards Emily.

When Emily swings the front door open, she turns around to face Aubrey one last time, "Okay. Bye."

Leaning in for a goodbye kiss, Emily's mind warps into overtime as she ignores Aubrey's gesture and immediately flies out the door.

…..

Skipping several steps doing down the apartment stairs, Emily gets to the first floor and bursts through the exit doors leading to the parking garage. With her heartbeat going as fast as her feet, she sprints as fast as she can to her car, unlocking it with the press of a button, and jumps into the driver's seat. Emily hurries to put her keys in the ignition and instantaneously puts her car in reverse, pulling out faster than recommended as if she was an extra in the Fast & Furious series. Once out, she pulls her car gear down to drive and speeds out of the parking garage onto the city street. Thanking God Aubrey lived a couple minutes from the highway, Emily pulls out her phone and opens the dial screen. Seeing that she deleted Alison's number after their fallout, Emily speedily graces her fingers over the keypad, frantically exchanging looks from her phone to the road as she types in Alison's number that she remembers from memory.

 _Ring…._

"Hi, this Is Alison DiLaurentis. I'm not at my-"

Emily anxiously hangs up and redials her again.

 _Ring…._

"Hi, this Is Alison-"

 _Redial._

 _Ring…._

"Hi, this-"

"Fuck!" Emily hits her steering wheel out of frustration, "She fucking blocked my number!"

Leaving I-676 West, Emily merges onto Interstate 76 West, signals into the fast lane and pushes the gas, hopping that no police would be on duty nearby. Although through average highway speed of 70 mph would get Emily to Rosewood in 20 minutes, Emily is determined to make it within 10 minutes pushing about 90.

Still with her phone in her hand, Emily tries a different approach to get to Alison.

…

Finishing her small plate of a microwavable TV dinner, as she is yet again all alone at home, Alison throws away the tray and cleans her off silverware.

 _Ding! Dong!_

Putting her spoon away in the appropriate location, Alison leaves the kitchen and head towards the front door, wondering who would be at her door at this time. Unlocking the door, Alison opens it and is greeted by two fairly young middle schoolers.

"Hi! Would you like a free flag sticker?" One of the younger boys asks as he extends his hand with a flag sticker on the end of his fingertip.

"Uhm, sure." Alison smiles and politely takes the sticker from the child.

After Alison accept the sticker, the boy's pal speaks up and point to his collection of small flag pins, "Would you like to buy a U.S. Flag pin for $10 to help fund flags for Veterans Graves? There are many veterans that have died with no kind of support left for them after death. With this donation, we at Flags4Vets will be able to buy flags and put them on every grave of our fallen soldiers. Starting here at Rosewood!"

"I'm sorry," Alison sadly cringes at her bad news as she leans against her door, "I don't have anything on me right now. Maybe come back later?"

"Ok!" The boys happily agree, still baring a smile, "Thank you for your time!"

"Thank you." Alison watches the boys jog off her porch before she closes and locks her door behind them.

Heading out of the living room and towards the stairs to go and lay down in her room, Alison hits the base of the stairs before she stops moving. Feeling oddly different then how she felt 20 seconds prior, Alison narrows her eyes and takes a look around her surrounded out of precaution. She stays extremely still to hear if maybe she heard her father or Jason pulling up in the driveway. Unable to hear anything, Alison moves from the stairs and walks over to her living room window, peeking behind the blinds.

Nobody in sight.

 _Hmmm._

Scratching her head as she leaves the window, Alison shuffles back to the stairs in continuation of going to her room.

 _Ok, with the heels, which would look better? The gold heels goes with the dress but the silver ones-_

Only 3 steps up the stairs, there is a sudden and heavy squeeze on her carotid artery causing Alison to buckle her legs and fold her arms outward, rendering complete consciousness as her body drops down heavy like a stone. Catching her before she hits the ground, Alison is lifted up and tossed over the shoulder of the silent home intruder.

…..

Weaving in and out of lanes and pushing her lucks at yellow lights, Emily finally gets onto Alison's street and pulls into her driveway with no regards of how she's parked. Before flying out the car, Emily reaches over to her glove compartment and rips out her Sig Sauer. She makes sure it's cocked and loaded before putting it in her holster and jumping out of her door. She frantically sprints up the porch stairs and tries the door handle.

Locked.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_ Emily relentlessly slams her fist onto the door to get someone's attention in the house. Waiting for a few seconds with so signs of movement from inside, Emily begins banging even harder.

 _Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!_

"Alison!"

 _Bang! Bang! Bang!_

Still with no signs of life, Emily ditches the door and runs to the side of Alison's house to see if she can get in through the backdoor.

Pushing herself to get to the back of Alison's house, Emily spots out of the corner of her eye what seemed like someone walking into the woods with some kind of cargo. Squinting her eyes farther as the sunlight races against her, Emily makes out the blonde strands of hair falling from behind the stranger's shoulders.

 _Alison!_

Having to think quickly, Emily quietly jogs in the direction of the bandit, making sure she's a good set of feet away to be undetected. She creeps up behind the person under their hoodie and mirrors their steps so it doesn't sound like extra feet behind them. Getting close enough to see Alison, Emily heartbeat quickens more than before noticing her unconscious. When the adrenaline finally hits Emily enough to attack, Emily aims her sights at the intruder and strikes a strong kick at the back of their leg. The sudden swift attack causes the mysterious person to groan out in pain, dropping Alison's unconscious body to the ground. Recovering faster than Emily anticipated, Emily lunges for the masked bandit just to get a quick jab shot to her side. The strong unexpected hit makes Emily cry out, staggering back as she holds her side in pain. At that exact moment clutching her side, Emily remembers her weapon hosted on her hip. With literally milliseconds to come to a decision, Emily swiftly lifts up her shirt-

"Emily?!"

Emily snaps her neck in the direction of the voice, seeing Hanna calling her in the distance towards the front of the house.

"Hanna!"

Letting her guards down by the surprise of Hanna, before Emily got the chance to take out her gun, she's hit in her face with a powerful spray blast.

" _ARGHHH!_ " Emily screams out on the top of her lungs out as she covers her face. She immediately drops to the floor as the pepper spray seeps into her eyes. "AHHHH! MOTHER….FUCKER!"

Upon seeing Emily hit the floor in agonizing pain, Hanna sprints towards the trio, making the bandit to take off in the woods, leaving Alison on unconscious and Emily screaming out.

"Emily! Emily!" Hanna rushes to the brunette's side, dropping onto the grass trying to calm her. "I'm calling 911!" She wildly unlocks her phone and opens to the dial screen.

" _IT FUCKING-IT FUCKING BURNS_!" Emily's face turns beat red as she wildly kicks and flops her body around. Straining her face out of sheer discomfort, a vein pops out on the side of her neck, looking ready to burst at any moment. " _FUCKING HELP ME_!"

"This is Hanna Marin! I need paramedics immediately over at the DiLaurentis house! NOW!"

" _I NEED WATER_!" Emily cries out as her hand reaches out to Hanna right beside her, madly searching for something to grab on before she catches the fabric of Hanna's blouse, yanking her down to her level. " _GET ME INSIDE! GET ME INSIDE! THIS IS BURNING MY FUCKING FACE, HANNA! GET ME INSIDE THE MOTHERFUCKING HOUSE!_ "

...…

"There is a pulse but it's weak! Prepare for CPR!"

…

"Emily! Emily! Please stop kicking, I am trying to help you!"

"GIVE ME SOME FUCKING WATER, _PLEASE_!"

…

"Please stand behind the barrier! We cannot answer any questions at this time!"

…

"Sir, please stand back!"

"That is my daughter over there! You let me through, right now!"

….

" _She's seizing_! I need extra hands over here!"

…

"Alison! Stay with me, honey! Stay with me!"

…

"What the hell happened, Hanna?!"

"It was Charles! He attacked Emily!"

…

"ICAN'TBREATHE! ICAN'TBREATHE!"

….

Within a matter of five minutes, Alison's home goes from being silent and secluded to loud and crowded with Rosewood PD, EMTs, all the girls and boyfriends, along with everyone's parents stuffed inside the living room of the DiLaurentis' house. With the sound of urgency at the DiLaurentis', reporters came out the woodworks trying to cover the breaking news of Rosewood Teens Alison DiLaurentis and Emily Field attacked by "A". With no need of rushing Alison to the hospital, she lays on her couch dipping in and out of consciousness while Emily's screams are being heard in the kitchen next door.

" _SON OF A…BITCH!"_

"Hold still, baby! Hold still!" Wayne holds Emily's face up over the sink as he pours milk over her still burning eyes. Emily strong arms her father as she holds a death grip on his shoulder, clenching tightly as the pain continues to seep into her eyes with the sensation traveling to her nose, mouth and skin. With the milk dripping down her face and onto her shirt, Emily repeatedly stomps, jumping up and down with no avail of the milk solving the agony quick enough.

Watching from the back, Pam cries to herself as she watches her daughter go through immense pain without any quick and instant relief. "Emily, please hold still!"

Raising her hand to the affected area, Wayne quickly grabs her wrists. "Nonono! Don't touch your face! You're going to make it worse and spread it!"

Feeling the sting of her tears along with the sting of the spray, Emily hacks up a round of coughs before she begins to uncontrollably cry out. "It still burns! Somebody please help me!"

"Emmy! Listen to me!" Wayne grabs Emily by her arms as she faces him with her shut tightly with the remaining of the milk still on her face, "You have to stay calm!"

Rushing in to help, Ella enters the kitchen with a container she was giving to by an EMT, "I have these medicated wipes that will help with the burning."

"Thank you, Ella." Wayne grabs the wipes and rips it open, "Emily, follow my lead, you need to sit down."

Having her father lead her, Emily frantically waves her hands behind to find a chair to sit on.

Hearing the commotion all around her fade from the background to the foreground, Alison slowly opens her eyes, having everyone rush to her side at the sight of her waking up.

"Where…. _where am I_?" Alison groggily asks as she squints her eyes from the bright ceiling lights.

"You're in your house," Lorenzo answers first as he squats down next to the blonde, "Alison, do you remember anything that happened to you?"

"Kids…..They…..they were going door to door…..selling flags." The words mumbles out of Alison's mouth as she tries to understand what is going on around her.

"Do you remember seeing anyone in the house?" Toby asks as he stands beside Lorenzo.

"No, I….I was alone-"

"STOP! STOP! STOP! IT HURTS!" A loud clang rings as something rather large falls to the floor followed by Emily's struggling catches the attention of everyone in the house. Especially Alison.

"What was that? What's going on?" Alison shoots up with her alertness being more potent than before.

" _Shhh_! Lay down, lay down." Lorenzo puts a hand on Alison's shoulder, easing her back onto the couch.

" _Toby_ , what's going on?" Alison reiterates her question more firmly with her eyes staring intently into his.

"According to what we got so far and what we can assume so far, _Charles_ was attempting to kidnap you when Emily came to your rescue and attacked him. Unfortunately, what you hear right now is the retaliation of Charles pepper spraying her."

Hearing the excruciating mixture sounds of Emily bawling and hyperventilating in the background, Alison cringes as she pushes against Lorenzo's hand and tries to rise off the couch, "I have to see her."

"Alison, no!" Lorenzo pushes her back down, "You can't be moving around! You need to rest!"

"No, get off of me!" Alison fights back, "I need to see her! _I need to see Emily_!"

Seeing that Alison is being uncooperative against her orders, other officers and EMTs rushes to Alison to keep her from moving. There is a small battle between Alison's aggression and the extra force as everyone tries to keep the teen stable.

"ALISON! STOP MOVING!" A voice booms from behind the enforcers. Everyone turns around as they see Kenneth walking towards them with a face scrunched up in anger that nobody dared to tango with. "You were unconscious, seizing, and now you will lay down and listen to what the officers tell you! Do you understand?!"

The room falls silent as everyone else's eyes drift back to Alison and her calmed down expression. She slowly swallows as she lays back down onto the couch, listening to her father's orders. "Yes, sir."

…

After 30 minutes of everything dying down, the EMTs leaving and the reporters being ushered away from the property, Emily's intense pain decreases as she is now able to open her eyes and blink without any extra burning. After her and Hanna are done taking their statements, she joins everyone in the living room for the first time.

Alison's eyes catches Emily slowly making her way into the room. Seeing her eyes swollen, hair ruffled, shirt drenched wet and a towel around her neck, Alison head hangs as she desperately tries to remember something from the incident. _Anything_.

"Starting tonight again, everyone will be assigned another police vehicle outside their homes just in case _Charles_ feels a little bold." Detective Tanner announces to the room.

"I'm staying here with, Ali." Spencer speaks out as she caresses Alison's hand.

"Me too." Aria pitches in.

"Same." Hanna adds to the duo, "I'm not leaving."

" _No_ ," Kenneth cuts off the kumbaya camp squad with a shake of his hand, "No, I'm not going to be liable for another child if something else happens. Everyone needs to leave and go home."

With their faces falling with the decline of help, the girls put their sights back on Alison as Emily leans against the wall watching on as her mother rubbed her back.

"He's right," Veronica agrees with Kenneth's demand, "I know you girls want to help but it's best if we all go home. You can see Ali in the morning."

"Speaking of child, where is Jason?" Ashley leans into Ella with a whisper.

Right on cue, Jason bursts through the front doors, immediately greeted by everyone's gloomy faces. "What happened?"

"Where the hell have you been?!" Kenneth turns to Jason as his yelling takes over the silent room again. "I've been calling you and you haven't picked up your fucking phone not once!"

"Wh-what happened?!" Quickly being cornered, Jason looks out into the living room to see Alison watching him with her face sagged with sadness. "Alison! Are you okay?!"

"Alison could have died and you would have had _no idea_ because you are running around the streets giving absolutely _zero fucks_ about what happens to your sister!" Kenneth continues to step into Jason, causing him to get stuck against a wall as his father screamed and pointed in his face. At that moment of hostility, a few officers and all the guys in the room stand up, "I'm the only one bringing income to uphold this house, to keep us from living in the streets! You were supposed to be here! You are _always_ supposed to be here when I go to work! That is your _fucking_ job, Jason! And because of your negligence, she was almost fucking killed and Emily almost went blind!"

Jason's eyes dart towards Emily on the far wall, with her wretched facial expression accompanied by her swollen, red eyes. "I'm….I'm so sorry…"

Kenneth's rage takes over him, shoving Jason hard against the wall as he grabs him by his shirt collar. "You bet your fucking ass you're sorry, you piece of shit!" Before anything could take off, the officers, Ezra, Toby, and Caleb jump into action, however, Wayne gets to Kenneth first and grabs Kenneth's arms, fighting him as he resists. "That is your baby sister! The only person we have left and you left her to die! You fucking left her to die! What would you have done then, you son of a bitch!" Wayne finally gets the upper hand and rips Kenneth away from Jason, causing both men to stumble backwards.

"Get off of me!" Kenneth pushes his way out of Wayne's hold. Agreeing to let go, Kenneth stares at Jason with murdering capabilities in his eyes as his chest heaves up and down with deep breaths.

With the room being one hundred times more uncomfortable then it was two minutes ago, everyone stays silent, not wanting to say anything.

"…Ok, It's time for us to go." Veronica speaks up for everyone once again as she places her hand on Spencer's shoulder. With all in agreeance, everyone begins to get their things together, say their last goodbyes to Alison and head for the door with their parents.

Not saying anything to Alison, Emily looks on to her through her sore eyes as she passes the couch. With Alison quiet as well, both girls exchange silent looks before Emily walks out the door with her father's hand over her shoulders.

"Mom, do you think it's okay if I stay with Emily tonight?" Hanna pleas to her mother in a whisper as they walk outside to their respectable cars.

"Hanna, I don't know…"

"Please, mom. She almost burned her eyes out of her sockets. I'm not leaving her alone."

Ashley sighs as she looks onto her daughter then up at Emily as her and her parents walk out of the house. "Fine. Only if her parents allow it. But I want you home immediately in the morning. No excuses."

Agreeing to the terms and conditions, Hanna gives her mom a hug and a kiss before she walks over to Pam who is trailing behind Wayne and Emily.

"Mrs. Fields?" Hanna approaches the still shaken up mother, "My mom said I can stay with Emily for the night? Is it okay with you?"

Pam gives a small smile as she reaches out and touches Hanna's hand, "Of course, Hanna. Thank you."

…

Walking through their front door into quiet home, Wayne leads everyone into the living room. Before Emily and Hanna had the chance to say their goodnights and run upstairs, Wayne stops the girls, "Emily, how are you feeling now?"

"A lot better…" Emily mutters with the hoarse remainder of what's left of her voice. "It doesn't hurt anymore, it's just pretty sore."

Wayne approvingly nods at her lack of pain then turns to Hanna, "Thank you, Hanna, for your help but I think it's best for you to go home for tonight."

"Oh, I said she can stay over with Emily tonight," Pam speaks up on the behalf of Hanna's appearance.

Turning back to glance at Pam with an unhesitating look, Wayne returns back to Hanna, "Again, I'm sorry Hanna but I don't think this is the best time. We have to talk to Emily about a few things and the last thing I want is for you to be uncomfortable as we have our discussion." Wayne tries to break down as nicely and friendly as he can.

"Family business," Hanna gives a light smile as she surrenders a hand, "I totally understand, Mr. Fields. I'll just say bye to Em and I'll be on my way."

"Yes, thank you for understanding, Hanna. Be sure to pass my appreciation for tonight to your mother."

"Of course." Hanna walks over to Emily and gives her a tight hug whilst whispering in her ear, "I'll pray for you. Call me asap, okay?" Pulling away from the embrace, the two friends exchange their "looks"- Hanna assuring, Emily worried- before Hanna walks towards the exit of the house.

"I'll walk you to your car, Han." Pam softly says as she walks with the blonde across the hall and outside to their driveway. With the moment of the door closing behind them, Wayne turns to Emily with a stern look.

A look that Emily knows all too well.

"Seeing the pain that you've endured today, I figured on the way here that I would… _take it easy on you_. I've told myself that I would refrain from lashing out on you, from cursing at you or anything that would mimic short of how Kenneth dealt with Jason earlier. But I don't how the hell I'm going to manage to do that when I have a daughter that _lies_ to me and goes out of her way to put herself in danger."

"You saw how Charles-"

" _Emily. Sit_." Wayne orders, not even trying to hear what Emily has to say at this moment in time. Doing as she has been told, Emily takes a seat on the couch as her mind runs rampant onto what could her father possibly bring up. Half of her wishes she was still in pain so she could avoid this chew-out.

"Where were you?" Wayne voice drops with seriousness as he crosses his arms, standing in front of her. Emily opens her mouth but gets an instant shut down before she has an opportunity to speak. "And don't tell me you were over at Hanna's because we called Ashley and she said she's never seen you over the house today."

Emily's body hunches down subtly as she waits her father to finish. Remembering the text Hanna sent her, Emily decides to test her luck, hopefully if anything does happen, maybe Aria can help cover for her. "I decided to go over Aria's house instead."

Wayne cocks his head slightly to one side as the skin around his eyes drew tight, "Okay…" He bows his head down as he looked at his shoes, "I'm going to give you one more chance to give me the truth or you can try to run that lie by me one more time. Just to see if I believe it this time around."

 _Shiiiiiit._

Emily avoids her father's intimating eye contact as she takes a small breath out, "I….went over to Spencer's lake house."

"The lake house."

"Yes. I needed a safe getaway for me to clear my head and for me to….unclutter myself from all this mess. _To clear my head_."

"Clear your head? _Clear your head_?" Wayne mocks, scrunches up his face in disbelief, "You have Dr. Sullivan to _clear your head._ "

"Dr. Sullivan is just another adult." Emily whines as she defends herself, "Someone to look down on me. Someone to judge me. Someone to critic and pick me apart. That's not a "safe place". I'm not comfortable there."

"Why did you not answer your phone?"

Emily's bows her head in shame as her voice softens, not able to look into his father's eyes, "I had my phone in my pocket. It must have been on silent. I'm sorry."

Wayne cocks his head to the side with cleft formed between his eyebrows, " _Sorry_? _You're sorry_?!" His voice raises in anger, "You think sorry is going to take you outta this?! You think _sorry_ is going to save you from all the punishment you're about to get?! When my daughter tells me that she's at one place, if I just _so happen_ to roll by, I expect to see her ass at that _exact_ location! You know why? So it prevents the entire _Rosewood PD_ and probably Pennsylvania as a state from going on a _munhunt_ on your ass!" Emily swallows down hard at the exact moment the front door opened and Pam entered with a pained expression on her face. Probably from being able to hear Wayne's voice roar from outside the house and down the street. "Every time you leave the house, you have your mother and I worried sick that something, _someone_ , will try something stupid and harm you again. But we have to let you out because not only are you a survivor that needs to get back on the swing of things, you're also a teenager. So imagine _my surprise_ when our worst nightmare came true and we get a frantic call that you've been attacked. But how could you have been attacked if you were supposedly at Hanna's? Or Aria's? Or the lake house, as you put it?" Wayne shakes his hands out in front of him as his neck strains with every syllable flying out of his mouth. "How are you out on the DiLaurentis' lawn _attacked_?! But _oh_ , all you have to say is _you're sorry_."

"I…..I had to protect, Alison…" Emily's face sags as she debates to raise her hand to rub her eye. At a moment like this, her father becomes a wild beast, waiting for one sudden movement to attack. Her eyes drift to her mother in the background who carries the looks of disappointment and troubled.

Wayne looks at Emily for a brief moment and waves his hand to motion at his daughter. "Stand up. Just-just humor me. Stand up and come here."

Slowly raising her feet, the forceful jab landed by Charles begins to throb as her body moves, causing Emily to grasp her side. With the clutching, she feels the iron metal pressed against her skin. Emily heartbeat starts uncontrollably pumping inside of her chest as she feels her legs weaken all over again. However, she stands her ground and hesitates moving closer to her father.

Wayne takes the initiative and takes his steps towards Emily who grows terrified with every step, "Because as I was trying to salvage your vision and prevent you from being 100% blind, I-" Getting to closer, Emily takes a few steps back from her approaching father. This little dance makes everyone pause. Wayne furring his eyebrows, Emily trying to control the size of her eyes to not give away anything and Pam standing confused at this whole situation. With his eyes falling down, Wayne forcibly grabs Emily's left arm, making Emily cry out in pain and Pam to yell her husband's name startled. In one fluid motion, Wayne pulls Emily to the side and lifts up her shirt.

" _Wayne, stop_!" Pam shrieks out again, rushing to Emily's side. However, the damage has already been done with both parents eyes widen at the sight of what's attached to Emily's hip. Still having her arm in the air and her pain aching on her side, Emily yanks out of her father's grasp and seizes herself. Her eyes avoid her parent's gawks as she feels her hands begin to tremble.

"Why is my gun on your hip?" Wayne's voice lowers as his eyes are still glued to Emily's side.

Emily hesitates for a moment, "I….I needed something to-to p-p-protect myself."

"To protect yourself?!" The lowered voice raises up once again as Wayne is being bombarded with Emily's sudden antics. "You have qualified Rosewood PD who is following you around!" Wayne throws his hand out and points to the window behind Emily, "That is _enough_ protect you need! You're going to go ahead and take one of my weapons and walk around with it for protection?! Without telling me?!" Wayne stomps into Emily's face, pushes Emily's hand to the side, forcibly rips the gun out of the holster, and checks the weapon, seeing the magazine is fully loaded. His eyes stares at her then to the gun, then to Emily again.

"Where did you get this gun from?" He shakes the gun in front of his face.

"Fr-from the vault in…in the attic." Emily fumbles out with her father's gaze making her physically weak.

"How did you get it?"

"I-I figured it out. The passcode."

Wayne leaned his head back to look down the ridge of his nose at her, "Unless you want to continue practice lying to me, I suggest you tell me the truth where you got this gun because if you were _smart_ enough to come up with a lie like that then you're _smart_ enough to know that all my weapons are branded with the my initials, _'W.F.'_ " Wayne forces the gun handle into Emily's face so she can see the weapon up close, "There is not a _single_ initial on this gun so, _Emily_ _Catherine_ _Fields_ , if you don't tell me where you got this from, I swear on everything! I brought you into this world I can DAMN WELL TAKE YOU OUT OF IT!"

Her shaking becoming more visible than just in her hands, Emily's breathing came in short, irregular gasps with her voice quavering, "I…I-I….I brought it."

" _You brought it_?!"

Pam clutches her chest as her mouth hangs open is distress at this revelation that she knew nothing about.

"Emily! What….what the _fuck_ are you doing?!" All of Wayne's inhibitions leave him as he stares down his frightened daughter, "A-a-are you trying to get yourself locked up?! Wh-what was your plan with this, huh?! You're walking around with an unlicensed weapon as a minor! What were your plans with this?! What were you gonna do?! Someone was gonna come and approach you and you were gonna take this gun out, point it at them and pull the trigger?! You-a-gr-a-" Wayne stops and bows his head to recollect himself before he raises his sights back on Emily, "All it takes is for you to mess up, put your hands up too high and your shirt lifts up to reveal your gun. All it takes is _one_ of those policemen out there to get a little too close and feel that weapon. Do you know what would happen to you if they found out you were walking around with a gun?! You would get locked up for illegal handgun possession! That's a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to five years imprisonment, a fine of up to $10,000, or both!" He yells out walking closer to Emily as Emily retreats backwards, getting more and more terrified by her father, "And let's say you would have used it on someone. You would get locked up for _murder_ or _attempted murder_! Not only would you have gotten _locked up_ , your _mother_ would have gotten _locked up_! _Whoever sold this to you_ would have gotten _locked up_! And I would not only get _kicked out the military_ , I would get _locked up_! And not doing _regular_ _time_ like you guys! I would be doing _federal time_! _FEDERAL TIME IN A FEDERAL PRISON BECAUSE OF YOU_!"

"I-I-I don't see why you guys would get a-arrested." Emily stutters out in complete fear.

"You don't see?! We are responsible for you!" Wayne extends his hands at Emily, "If a _child_ is walking around with a gun, the house _must_ be unsafe. CPS will be called and there will be an investigation. And they will do _everything_ and _anything_ to find something wrong. It wouldn't hurt that we _already_ had the police called on us because of you wanting to rebel against your mother at school months ago. Not only would we all be questioned, I will be investigated by my 1st shirt who will personally kick me out the military and straight into federal prison because I'm not a civilian! _None of us are_! When civilians get in trouble, they deal with the state. When military members get in trouble, we get in trouble with the damn government!" With his last push on his given statement, a sharp pain stabs Wayne's heart prompting him to clutch his chest. With the sudden agony, he staggers back with Pam rushing to his side.

"Wayne, your heart!"

With his pain not being an emergency, he pushes Pam to the side and comes up to Emily in her face once again, "You are _so grounded_ , Emily! _Indefinitely_! No prom, no nothing!"

Emily's face drops along with her mouth in utter shock, "Dad!"

"And you _will_ begoing on that trip with Nicole. You have no say in this anymore. You gave it up when you decided to be untrustworthy!"

"Wait! Please I-"

"This is final!"

"What about Alison?!"

"What _about_ Alison?!"

"I-I can't just leave!" Emily picks up her voice seeing this is her only chance of fighting back, "Who's going to watch over her to prevent what happened tonight from happening again?!"

"She has a father and a brother more than capable of doing their job!" Wayne stands his ground, "You are _not_ her family, Emily!"

"And we see just how much of a superb job their doing! If anything, I'm the only one giving a damn about her! If it wasn't for me, she would be _God knows where_ right now!"

"Emily, you will not-"

"I'm not leaving Alison behind! She needs me!"

"Who sold you this gun?!" Wayne waves the weapon back and forth frantically, shutting down his daughter's attempt to one up him in an argument, "You tell me right now who sold you this gun. Emily! If you open your mouth and you say anything else but a name, so help me God!"

**Translator:**

" **Or what about hazel nut butter muffins?" Aubrey bites her lip as she places her hand on the warm glass, "Mmmm.** _ **Ay Dios.**_ **"**

" **Ay Dios" = "Oh god"**

" **Ay Dios Mio" being the full term for "Oh my god."**

 **Which basically is the statement of this entire chapter.**


	13. Chapter 13: Admission of Guilt

CHAPTER #13: Admission of Guilt

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

" **I think you need to reconsider this."**

" **No, Pam! You need to support me in this decision. She broke a law for Pete sakes! I would rather her be disciplined by me instead of the police department."**

" **And I get that! But the school board already banned her from prom. The least she can do is have the prom in Veronica's barn house."**

" **She broke a rule! She has to learn consequences! Do you understand the severity of this? She met up with a stranger and purchased a weapon with a box of ammo and a crap load of other things! What if that was an undercover cop?"**

" **She needed to protect herself, Wayne! Look at all she's been through. With all the trauma she's endured, do you really think that she's going to undeniably trust the police when she was in their care and still was taken? If she felt the need to protect herself, I don't disagree. Look what happened to Alison who was trusting of Rosewood PD. She was knocked unconscious and nearly kidnapped and if it wasn't for Emily, she could be halfway across the country right now."**

 **Wayne lets out a groan and saunters off to their bedroom window with fingers rubbing his temple. Pam slowly follows behind him as she defends Emily's side, "Don't be fooled by her age or status in school, she's still a child, Wayne. For the past two years, she's been thrusted into adulthood when she needed to be a teenager. Who knows what happened to her-to any of them in that dollhouse seeing that they won't speak to us about it."**

" **Pam..." Wayne holds up his hand to signal Pam to stop but all she does is move closer and grabs his hand in a supportive way.**

" **Allow her to go to the prom, Wayne. Veronica, Ashley, Ella and I will be right there the whole time."**

 **Wayne turns around to face his wife with her soft, pleading eyes. He sighs out as looks down, softly rubbing his thumb against Pam's. "She's still going on the trip." He holds his ground but with a gentle voice instead, "She can't be here for an entire summer with this freak wanting to play Truth or Dare. She needs a change of scenery."**

" **Yes, she will be going on the trip. I agree with you 100%. But with this tomorrow night..." Pam slides her hands to cuff her husband's face as his hands overlapped hers, "she should go. This is the last remain of her being a kid. Prom, graduation...she deserves this. You know she does."**

…

 **Aubrey** _ **2 hours ago.  
**_ **Missed call (7)**

 **Aubrey**

Did you get in trouble?

 **Aubrey**

Emily, what's going on?

 **Aubrey**

This is all my fault. I'm so sorry.I should have never allowed you to come over. Can you please call me back or text me asap?"

 **Aubrey**

Can you please tell me what's going on? You haven't responded back to me and I'm getting really antsy over here. I can't sit still knowing that you ran out like that. Call me, please!

 **Aubrey**

I'm seeing the news right now! What is happening?! I'M GETTING SCARED. PLEASE ANSWER.

 **Aubrey**

YOU WERE ATTACKED BY CHARLES?!

 **Aubrey**

Fuck this. You might get upset or whatever but I'm coming down there right now.

 _ **slide to reply.**_

….

" **I just got off with the school board," Ella address Aria in her room early of that Saturday morning. "And we have some more bad news…"**

 **Looking in the mirror prior to her mom coming in, Aria turns around and catches the apprehension on her mother's face, "What is it?"**

" **With the recent attack of Charles last night….they think its best if you and the rest of your friends are barred from commencement."**

" **WHAT?!" Hanna chokes on her glass of water as she flashes her mother a look at warrants her eyeballs to basically pop out of her head, "WE'RE BANNED FROM GRADUATION?!"**

 **Ashley sighs to herself as she relives the déjà vu moment, "They are scared for the student's safety, Han-"**

" **AND THEY WON'T LET US WALK?!" Hanna cuts Ashley off with a slam of her hands on the dining room table.**

" **Something we've been working on since elementary school and they're just going to stop us from walking across the stage?** _ **Just like that**_ **? With no regards to how** _ **we**_ **feel?" Emily questions her parents with disbelief as everyone eats their breakfast.**

" **You have to see this from the other perspective as well, Emily." Pam tries to shed some light on yet another bombshell, "If you were the superintendent, would you allow a group of girls tormented by a psychopath be in the same building with about 300 other students?"**

" **They should beef up security!" Emily's voice raises as she defends the integrity of her and her friends, "With everything we've been through and fought for, they're going to take what's left of us and throw it in our faces with not allowing us to walk with our class?! We deserve that much! We already have to spend our** _ **senior**_ **prom in a bathtub!"**

" **Honey, I'm sorry."**

" **No, I'm sorry!" Spencer pushes back as she burrows her face into her hands, "I've spent the past two weeks writing that stupid valedictorian speech that I didn't even wanna give in the first place."**

" **Spencer," Veronica tries to soothe the hardship of her daughter with a rub of her back, "The circumstances have changed since you started that speech."**

" _ **I know**_ **. It went from a pity-toss to a humiliation-hurl."**

" **Please, stop focusing on what you don't have and focus on the fact that you're here and you have four dear friends to celebrate with."**

" **What's the board's number?" Aria rips out her phone from the charger on her bed, "I'm going to call them right now. They can't do this to us! I'm going to fight this!"**

" **Aria…." Ella walks over to the fuming brunette and places a hand on her shoulder, "The decision has already been made. There is nothing left to fight."**

….

Pulling up to Alison's sidewalk, with a police cruiser sitting in the driveway, Wayne puts the car in park and glances over to Emily in the passenger's side staring outside her window. Riding in complete silence since the moment they hopped in the car, Wayne sighs out, feeling that he should say something.

"I'll be back to pick you up in a hour and a half…"

Without looking in her father's direction, she nods and unclicks her seat-belt. "Bye," She mutters loud enough for him to hear.

"Emily…" Wayne speaks up, making Emily stop her process of unlocking the door. "I'm….sorry for blowing on you the way you did." He breathes out as she taps his fingers on the steering wheel. "It's just that….you're my baby girl. Even though you're not a baby anymore…you're the only thing I have in this world to call my own." Emily slowly turns her face towards her father and connects their first eye contact since they first got into the vehicle. "I know you want to protect yourself and you have every right to. It's just that I wish you would have came to your mother or myself for some help. It _absolutely_ _terrifies_ me of the thought that I may lose you in this twisted game Charles is playing. _Emily_ …I'm just scared."

"I know you are but….you shouldn't be." Emily whispers with what's left of her voice since she's pretty much damaged her vocal chords from screaming so much. She gives her dad a small smile before looking down at her hands, "And I totally understand. You love me and just want to make sure I'm safe. I get it."

Wayne gives a cool smile back before he looks forward to the street in front of him. "You might want to make this thing with Alison quick if you still want some time to get ready for prom."

The sudden statement makes Emily snap her neck at her father's direction with widen, surprised eyes as if she didn't hear him correctly. "If you're going to this thing, you need to make sure you have enough time to put on the _ol'_ _razzle dazzle_. You're representing the whole family here, you can't disappoint and look " _taghash lame_ " or " _sorry_ "." Wayne mocks with a bit of sass and a roll of his neck. "Isn't….that…what you say when someone isn't looking their best?" Wayne flashes Emily a light laugh before she lunges in to give her father a hug.

" _Yeeeeah_ , we're going to have to work on that," Emily laughs as she squeezes her father in a tight embrace. When they both pull away, Emily laugh fades into a lingering smile, "Thank you, dad."

"Anytime, Em. Now get out before you make me all sappy." Emily giggles and unlocks her car door, hopping out and closing the door behind her before her dad rolls down the window. "Remember, I should be back in an hour and a half. If something happens, I'll call you before then. _Please_ , keep your phone ringer on."

"Alright. Bye." The two exchange their waves before Emily turns around and makes her way up Alison's driveway. The happiness that came out of her father's car quickly evaporates the closer she gets to Alison's front door. The paining thoughts of her last memories at his house have all been bad. Everything flooding her all once, all Emily could do is hope that Alison actually accepts her in since her last words were that she never wanted to see her again. Before actually getting to Alison's porch stairs, he phone in her back pocket began to ring. She fishes out her phone and checks caller ID to see if the call was worth picking up or letting it go to voicemail.

Making her decision and seeing her father still sitting in his car, waiting for her to get in safely, Emily waves him down to leave as she wipes to answer and puts the phone to her ear, "Before you say anything, I'm sorry that I haven't called or text you last night. I was just-"

"Oh my god, you sound horrible." Aubrey gasps at the sound of Emily's croaking voice, "Ar-are you okay? You had me worrying my eyes out, thinking all the worse possible things when you left me."

"No, yeah. I'm fine, I'm fine." Emily exhales out as she turns to look at Alison's door. "But-uhmm…I'll call you later. I have to g-"

"No, no!" Aubrey jumps to cut Emily off from cutting her off, "Emily, please don't shut me out. I tried to make it over there last night but the entire area was completely sealed off. _Emily_ ," She softly begs on the other line, "I need to see you."

Emily sighs to herself as she slowly paces back and forth in front of Alison's stairs, biting her lip as she glances over at the police officer switching between watching her and checking his laptop. Keeping silent on the phone for a long, painful eight seconds, Emily stops in her tracks and runs her hand through her hair.

"Hello? Emily? Are you there?"

" _Yeah_...yeah, I'm right here."

"Talk to me, please."

Emily turns back towards the stairs and makes her way up towards Alison's door with silent deliberateness. "I'll call you afterwards in a little bit, OK?"

"Emily, please no!" Emily cringes at the distress at Aubrey's voice, "Don't hang up-don't hang up!"

Emily ends the call and quickly pockets her phone so she knows she isn't tempted to see Aubrey's incoming texts or calls. She would silence her phone to completely ignore the loud notifications but knowing that her parents might come in contact with her from that moment to an hour and a half from now, Emily will just deal with it as it comes.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

After a few seconds of waiting, the door is opened to reveal Jason behind it. "Hey, Emily."

"Hi…Is-uhmm-is Alison able to see company?"

"Uh, yeah." Jason moves to the side, allowing Emily entrance into his house, "Sure. Come in."

Emily steps inside and walks into the living room, expecting to see Alison but is just found with an empty living area.

"I'm sorry for what happened to you last night." Jason slowly approaches Emily with his hair falling down the side of his face and his hands shoved uncomfortably inside his pockets. "It is all my fault that any of that happened. You…you didn't deserve that, I should have been here." Emily takes in his distraught appearance and gives him a reassuring nod in return. "Thank you for being there for Ali. I know she really appreciates it."

"Yeah…" Emily hangs her head down as she fiddles with her shoes on the floor before she looks back up at Jason, "No problem."

Jason gives his own nod as the two awkwardly stand in silence with neither of them knowing what to say next. Jason clears his throat and points his direction to the stairs, "So, Alison's upstairs in her room if you need to see her."

"Thanks," Emily replies back. She walks her way through the living room and to the stairs while Jason goes the opposite way scratching his head.

…

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Emily slowly opens the bedroom door to find Alison sitting at the edge of the bed, waiting for the mysterious knocker to reveal themselves. Upon seeing it was Emily, Alison upkeeps her silence and blank demeanor as Emily stands idly at her door. For a set of five seconds of not saying anything, Emily takes the initiative of closing the door behind her and pulling up the chair at that was placed by Alison's makeup table.

Staring at each other with no words coming from either of the girls, they sit there.

 _In_

 _Complete_

 _Silence…_

"How are your eyes feeling?" Alison quietly asks, not breaking the intense eye contact between her and the brunette.

" _Sore_ ," Emily's voice cracks under the all the hoarseness. " _Incredibly sore_."

The unpleasant sound makes Alison cringe inside, hearing the pain and suffering resonating in her tone. Although, not showing it in the outside, she holds up to see what Emily's next hand is.

"How are you?" Emily returns the questioning to try to start a conversation, "How are you feeling?"

"…. _Tired_."

Emily nods her head in understanding. If she could describe the vibe of the current state of the room, it would be the human version of bad, one-wording texting. Not knowing exactly where she stands with Alison after everything, she's afraid of saying much but she knows if she wants to redeem herself, she needs to start talking. And soon.

"Thank you…" Alison speaks up, cutting the silence, "by the way. For coming in when you did."

"Any time."

"What happened anyway?"

"I got a cryptic text from A that hinted that he was going to try something with you. I tried to call you to warn you but I kept getting your voicemail…" Emily shamefully trails off as she looks down and plays with her fingernails. "So I hightailed it to your house. I tried the front door and got nothing. So I ran to the back and that's when I saw that Charles or _somebody_ had you draped over their shoulders. I ran after them and attacked but had the wind knocked out of me when they hit me back. After that, I got sprayed and…..It just went downhill from there."

Alison eyes became watchful of Emily as she played with her fingers. After hearing the whole story, she didn't have much to say seeing that she already gave her thanks.

"Are you ready for prom tonight?" Emily asks with the attempting of swaying the conversation to something lighter.

"Not going."

Emily perks up in surprise, fully expecting Alison to say yes. " _What_? W-why not?"

"Well, when someone attempts to kidnap you, it just _really_ takes the fun out of life. Who would have thought?" Alison shrugs off her sarcastic remark, "Just when you think things can't get any worse, your "brother" tries to run off with you into the night like freaking Zorro. Besides, it's not like I'm missing anything." Alison slides off her bed and walks over to her bedroom window, "I have a binging marathon of a show I've been starting to watch: _The Vampire Dairies._ Stefan is about to turn off his humanity switch and shit is _really_ about to hit the fan."

"Alison…" Emily turns in her chair to face the blonde with a frown appearing in-between eyebrows and the short-side glance to match, "This is going to be the last time we're all going to be around each other. After this, then graduation, everyone is going their separate ways. You're _really_ about to throw this all away for…. _for a TV show_?" Alison's response of silence very much takes Emily back by how serious she may be. Emily's eyes search downwards before she finds her voice again, "Do it for me, please."

"Do it for _you?_ " Alison turns around to Emily with her eyebrows pinched and arms crossed, "You're the _last_ person I would do anything for."

Emily sighs out in shame with the poor choice of wording, "I know, Al-"

"The only reason I'm even allowing you to stay here is because of what you did last night. In which I'm very thankful. _But that's it_. That's the only thing you have on me right now. And trust me, that is nowhere near enough for you to be asking for _favors_."

" _Yes_. Yes, I get that." Emily rises from her chair with her shoulders sagging and her head bowed, "And it _sucks_. It sucks that we-that _I_ had to go through extremities to see what the big picture really was. That I was wrong. _About everything_. And I'm _sorry_."

"I'm glad one of us are because I stopped being sorry a while ago." Alison looks at Emily with cold, unsympathetic eyes still narrowed at her for all the things she's put her through in the past.

Emily sighs out, rubbing her left hand with her right arm as she looks for a leverage, some kind of reasoning she could use to prove Alison her sorrow, "I haven't been talking to Dr. Sullivan since we first started this therapy session. Like at all. That's because I thought I didn't need help but…." She lowers her eyes to face Alison's flooring, "I needed it the most out of everyone. I'm _so sorry_ , Alison." She lifts her head up to meet Alison hard gaze with her soft and gloomy ones, "One of the things I wanted to come here and ask you is if….if you wanted to go to prom with me…" Emily slowly shakes her head as doubt shielded her eyes, "But I don't deserve you romantically and I doubt that I deserve you as a friend to even ask for such the honor."

Alison straightens her posture while still holding her intimating appearance, internally surprised at Emily's offering, "Why would you ask me to prom?"

"Because everyone deserves to be happy at prom. _Especially you_. And because….I-I…I miss you…" Emily voice cracks with the prior stress on her vocal chords. Detecting no foul play from the brunette, her voice, her overall presence, nor her eyes, they all seemed to hold honesty behind them. Alison's eyes drift off to the side followed by her body as she turns to look back outside her bedroom window, not giving into the impression. Hearing faint footsteps approach her, Alison holds her ground.

"Alison….can-can I hug you…?"

Alison slowly turns herself around to find Emily within feet of her. Exhaustion drew her face down with her voice sounding fuzzy, as if she almost wanted to cry but held herself not to. Alison looked into her brown eyes that appeared to have lost what it once held. It wasn't filled with twinkles like when she's happy, stony when she was angry or dark when she was lustful. They were dull….and pleading. Alison gives a single nod causing Emily to lean in and wrap her arms around Alison's waist firmly, pulling her close into her to feel all of her. She places her head on Alison's shoulder as Alison reluctantly wraps her arms around Emily's side. The two silently stand there for a few seconds as Emily really basks in the moment for as long as she can, not wanting to let Alison go.

To prove to her that she was wrong.

To show her that she really does care for her.

To say sorry in ways that she can't profess with her mouth.

After the short lived hug, Alison pulls away from and catches a look at Emily who gives her a small smile back.

"Thank you."

Alison gives Emily a nod back with her eyes avoiding Emily's. Not because she doesn't want to look at her. But because she can't handle all the emotions written on Emily's face. "You're welcome…" She replies back in a hushed voice.

"I should…" Emily steps back and nervously looks at Alison's door with a rub of the back of her neck, "I should probably let myself out. I wouldn't want to bother you anymore than I already have." Looking at Alison one more time, seeing if she was going to object to Emily leaving, Alison's silence gives Emily to the cue to go ahead and go. Emily walks towards the door and opens it. Before completely disappearing, Emily stops and turns back to face Alison still standing at her window with a less cold look then before. "It was really nice to talk to you again, Ali." Without another second wasted, Emily slowly closes Alison's door to prevent it from closing loudly. Seconds later, Alison hears Emily's footsteps climbing down the stairs before the entire top floor becomes silent again.

 _Ali…_

 **Tonight's showing: Prom Night.**

 **Ladies and Gents, Step right up and get your tickets! It'll surely be a blitz.**


	14. Chapter 14: I Prom Night

**To my Spanish speaking reader: Gracias por su sugerencia.** **Estaba pensando lo mismo :) Gracias por su apoyo, mi amor.**

 **To everyone else: Welcome to Prom night…. I've split this into three continuous chapters.**

 _ **I. Prom Night**_

 _ **II. Slow Dances & Reminiscing**_

 _ **III. Last Goodbyes**_

 **I was originally going to put this all in one chapter but then I don't think you guys wanted 16k words in one chapter soooo I did you guys the favor in splitting it into three chapters. These long awaited chapters are quite lengthy so I suggest that you find a quiet area, get your snacks, drinks, relax…and get ready to** _ **read**_ **.**

" **BUT 16K WORDS?! WHY...WHY THE HELL IS IT THAT LONG?!"**

 **Read on and you shall see why :)**

CHAPTER #14: I. Prom Night

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Veronica Hastings pulls out a saran-wrapped tray of cooked goods she had sitting on the top shelf of the fridge, passing it off to Ashley.

"Wow," She chuckles to herself as she sets down the tray with the other plates of finger foods on Veronica's kitchen island, "Is that all seafood? That looks delicious."

"Do you want me to run it out to the girls?" Ella points towards Veronica's backyard.

"Oh, _God, no_." Mrs. Hastings makes a long face, "This is for _us_. They're having nachos."

Ella and Ashley laugh to themselves seeing that the moms will be eating fresh and delicious food while the girls are stuck with the likes of chips, "Did Spencer give you a hard time about having us here?" Ella asks Veronica as she grabs the wine glasses, "I know Aria was not thrilled that I was gonna be 30 feet from her prom."

Veronica cocks her head slightly to one side, bringing her eyebrows together, "You were closer to her when you were her English teacher."

Ella ponders then points her finger in agreement right when a low rumble drifts into the kitchen making all the women stop in their tracks. Ella lifts her head up to hear the noise before she sets her sights back on Veronica, "What was _that_? Was that thunder or music?"

"That….was probably Hanna parking…." Ashley quietly responds in embarrassment through her forced smile at Ella. Before the moms could comment on that possible revelation, Pam walks quickly into the kitchen with a plate of food brought from home.

" _Sorry_. I wasn't expecting to know _both_ the cops out front." She apologizes as she sets her plate down with the other plates of food.

"Did that get us any insider info? Are they closer to finding him?" Ella asks with a glint of hopefulness.

Pam lets out a sad sigh, "I'm afraid that would take more than a pecan sandie. Besides, these aren't high-ranking officers so they wouldn't know anything."

"Well," Ashley rises up, "as long as they stay awake for the next three hours I am just grateful they're out there."

Everyone nods in accord as Veronica pops open her wine bottle and sway it in front of her like a hand model, "Would anyone like a glass of _Cabernet_?"

"Uhm, I don't think so."

"Not tonight."

"No, I'll-I'll pass." The mothers politely turn down the offer.

" _Well_ ," Veronica smiles to herself with lowered eyes, "I'm not driving." She gives a smug look to the other women before she pours herself a glass.

Ella scrunches up her face in resisting temptation as she watches Veronica pour the bottle from high into her glass. She tries to hold herself until her mouth moves before her brain could stop her. "You know, since it's _open_..."

"I'll have one." Ashley finishes Ella sentence with a wave of her hand.

"…Me too." Pam joins into the guilty pleasure as she flashes a tight, closed-lipped smile.

Veronica's face lights up with glee as she pours three more glasses of wine for her little party of four.

…

As everyone stand in front of Melissa's fireplace taking group pictures, Emily every so often glances over by the door, waiting to see Alison walk through at any given moment. She knows that she didn't drive her point home as much as she wanted to but she really hopes that Alison comes around and spends the last coming days with her friends that's been through it all since the beginning with her. However, with every picture snap and every clock tick, the hopes are slowly let down with no sign of Alison anywhere.

"Where is Alison," Hanna speaks up as if she was just in Emily's thought process, "She should have been here by now."

"She's probably on her way." Aria responds as she looks over at the gallery of pictures on her phone, "If we know Ali, she's still going to take the opportunity to make a _certified DiLaurentis entrance_." She mocks as she gives a formal bow down.

With Ezra looking over at his camera, Toby on a stepping stool to hang up a small disco ball, and Caleb managing over the drinks and snacks, Aria walks over to Ezra to see how his camera is coming out with pictures.

"Uh-actually it's alright, it could of have been better." He tests his shots with putting the camera to his face and taking a snapshot of Hanna and Emily talking. He brings the camera back down and looks at his results, "I knew I should have brought my other lenses."

Confused, Aria peeks over at his camera screen, "The picture looks fine to me." She looks up at Ezra, "What's wrong with it?"

"Well, for starters look at the proportions of everything," Ezra points to the screen, "I brought a couple of lenses in my bag but forgot that I took some out and didn't put them back. Look how this makes everyone look with the wide angle I got. It might not matter but I want to be able to fix this up and send it to everyone after tonight's over." Aria takes the camera out of Ezra's hand and inspects the pictures he takes more closely to see what he's getting at. "Look at the quality of the glass, the maximum size of the aperture, and all the other characteristics." Ezra continues explaining.

"Ok…" Aria confirms with him, "If you have to run out and go grab it, then do it quick please."

"It's not like I'm going to miss anything." Ezra teases which causes him to get a slap on the arm.

"Where are you going?" Caleb butts into the conversation as he puts his hand on Ezra's shoulder.

"Just to get different lenses," Ezra lifts up his camera, "I'll be back, it shouldn't take long."

"Oh, let me come with you. We could use some drinks."

"But…we…have drinks already?" Aria responds with a confused look as she glances behind her with the drinks and snacks.

"I mean _drinks_. What's prom without someone spiking the punch, right?" Caleb laughs as pats Ezra on the back. Both Aria and Ezra look at Caleb with non-understanding gazes. "C'mon, guys. Look at where we're at. We owe it to ourselves to be able to let loose a bit."

"I mean…" Aria tilts her head from side to side as she debates the idea with a small smile starting to appear at the creases, "You're not _wrong_."

"But I don't think it's a good idea…" Ezra grimaces as he looks in-between Caleb and Aria scheming.

"You can't get in trouble if you didn't know." Aria persuades attempts to persuade him, "It is _prom,_ after all." Seeing that he's quickly losing the battle between the eager teens, Ezra eventually nods his head causing the two to quietly clap in victory.

"Drinks it is." Caleb grins with squinted eyes of joy before he turns to Ezra, "When are you leaving?"

"Right now, actually." Ezra pats his left pocket to hear the jiggle of his keys, "Let me just set this down and we should be ready to go." He walks off with Aria following after him when Toby walks by.

"Hey," Caleb stops him, "Ezra and I are heading out to get his camera lens and to pick up a few drinks. Want to come join?"

"But…" Toby looks back apprehensively, "who's going to watch over the girls while they're in here?"

"We're coming right back. Besides, their moms are keeping an eye out. Everything will be fine." Caleb uses his attempt to persuade Toby this time. Seeing the Caleb is right and he doesn't have much to worry about, he does want to be able to give this prom some kind of life even if it means getting alcohol in everybody's system so they can all sit down, tell jokes and laugh. Toby nods in full agreement.

"Yeah, I'm in."

…

As the boyfriend crew explains to the girls the reason for their quick departure, Caleb and Toby wait on Ezra's mark since he's the one driving and ultimately the one who is buying the alcohol.

 _-Concurrently-_

Walking the close distance between her house and Spencer's, Ali hikes up her dress as she walks from the side of the Hasting's house to the back. Hearing the music faintly bumping in the background, Alison knows it's most likely that everyone is already there and that she can't just discreetly hold up a wall. In the same thought, Alison wants everyone to stop and stare. To see her in her final prom form, even if only a handful of people are going to see it. Finally making it to the back of the house, a flash of lightning lights up the sky just as she looks towards the back windows of the house. She sees Emily's mother leaning against the window, looking out into the distance just when Alison comes into sight. Alison gives a friendly smile and a wave to Pam who then returns the gesture with a sympathetic face.

…

"Alright, girls. We're heading out and should be back in 10 mins. 15 tops." Ezra announces to everyone just as Caleb leans against the door. As soon as he puts his hand on the doorknob to leave, Alison and her long golden ball gown emerges from the other side of the door to make everyone stop and stare. Just as she had predicted.

Everyone collectively make compliments seeing Alison dolled up in her prom attire, however, one person in-particular stands her position with her eyes widen, drifting down every sequin, every design, every accessory in pure amazement. Taking the opportunity to talk to Alison alone with the girls saying their goodbyes to their boyfriends, Emily walks up to Alison standing by the snack and drinks table.

" _Alison_ …You look," Emily's approaches the blonde with her eyes still set on her dress, "you look _gorgeous_."

Alison turns to the side and takes in Emily's prom outfit choice, a long and fitting black and grey formal gown worn with a black crown and long black earrings to match. "Thank you," Alison's eyes meet Emily's with a small polite smile, "You look nice as well."

Emily smiles back as she bows her head down before she looks back up, "Thank you for coming, honestly. This really means a lot to me."

Alison pauses as she subtly tilts her head to the side, "I didn't come to this for you, Emily." Alison shakes her head, "I came for me. For my friends. That's it."

" _Oh_ …" Emily lowers her voice with her mouth hung open, forgotten and hurt by Alison's words. She willed her eyes to look into her face even though they strained to turn away with a forced, strained smile. "Well, that's good. Always put yourself first. That's….that's good. Good for you." Emily awkwardly fumbles out with the blonde's verbal blindside. "I'm glad you came anyway so…I hope you enjoy yourself." With no place to run in the small living room of the barn house, Emily bows her head and looks at her phone, walking over towards Hanna to leave the embarrassment moment shared with Alison.

…

Sitting outside on the back stoop with the nice, warm breeze of the night, all four mothers gaze at the barn house playing loud music while their daughters try to celebrate what should have been the best night of their lives. Ashley, instead, looks at Veronica, trying to find the words to beginning talking.

"Veronica, I'm sorry." Ashley shakes her head, "We shouldn't have made you tell that story about Peter and Jessica."

"Believe me, it was easier telling it than living it." Veronica responds back with a nonchalant attitude.

" _Amen_." Ella speaks up as she looks up at the dark skies, "Been there, done that." Hearing what she said with the alcohol starting to get to her a little bit, Ella turns to face the other mothers, "I'm sorry, did I say that out loud?"

"What's worse is I can't even spend time out here anymore without being reminded of that woman." Ella and Ashley synchronize in a head turn as they look at Veronica with furrowed brows and eyes as question marks, "That's where the dog dug her up." Veronica points to the uneven patch of grass covered by scattered leaves.

Pam takes in an uneasy breath as she cringes, bringing the wine glass to her lips, "I completely forgot."

" _Well_..." Veronica breathes in heavily with her eyes fixed on Jessica DiLaurentis burial spot in her yard, "some of us can't." With a strike of lightning in the distance followed by a rumble of thunder, Veronica and her wine glass rise to her feet and walks back inside of her house through the back door, leaving the others with sorrow-stricken faces.

"Should we check on the girls?" Pam asks as her eyes drift back to the barn house.

Ashley looks back towards the house behind her with a worried expression, "I think we should check on our host. The girls are fine." Following Ashley's lead, the remaining two get up and walk back inside to console Veronica as she begins to finish her wine at a faster rate than any of them.

"Veronica, maybe you should eat something." Pam suggests out of concern.

"This is a beautiful tray." Ashley chimes in as she taps the tray of untouched finger food. "I love it."

Veronica takes the remaining of the Cabernet bottle and pours what's left in her glass before she starts laughing to herself, "It wasn't bad enough that this _bitch_ tried to steal my husband but her _sicko son_ had to bury her in our backyard!"

The mothers sit at the kitchen island uncomfortable with Ashley trying to derail the conversation as she taps the plate tray, "Is it crystal?" She asks with Ella turning her drunken face towards her with pouched lips.

"J-just… _ten feet away_ from my lilacs." Veronica angrily recalls as she nizzles her lips around the wine glass, taking a gulp of the red wine.

"Maybe we should put on some music." Ashley smiles with another attempt to sway the inevitable, looking at Ella for co-agreement who all she does is nod her head with her eyes drifting back to her drink.

"This deranged _freak_ tried to frame my entire family."

"Maybe it wasn't Charles…" Pam lowly whispers loud enough for all eyes to be shifted on her, "I mean, I know that he put our daughters through hell but I'm just saying that maybe we can't pin all of this on him."

Ashley eyes narrow at Pam, not understanding her train of thought, "You can't possibly be defending-"

" _No, no, not at all_ ," Pam quickly recovers to defend herself with a slight slur in her speech, "I'm just-I'm just saying that….maybe somebody else buried Jessica out there."

"Like who?" Veronica rolls her eyes in Pam's direction.

" _Like her husband_." Pam looks up at Veronica standing next to her, "I mean, from what I've heard it could be revenge. For all the years she kept this kid a secret."

"Maybe he wanted Peter to discover the body." Ashley regretful adds in as she plays with her wine glass, Ella staring at her with an intent glossy gaze.

"Maybe...we should ask him." Veronica smiles as she sets her glass down.

Pam's eyebrows raise in curiosity, "Who?"

"Kenneth." Veronica enunciates his name as she leans over to Pam a little too close. Her eyes drift over to her car keys in the middle of her island. Ella, who notice Veronica's move before she makes it, tries to grab the car keys but Veronica snatches it leaving Ella to grabs a napkin instead.

"Where are you going?" Ella asks.

"To get an answer." Veronica respond indefinitely before she begins to walk out of her kitchen. Ella jumps out of her chair and jogs, what she believes to be running, towards the front door to stop Veronica.

"What? Wait." Ashley perks up, " _No, you can't do that_."

"Oh, watch me." Veronica's voice ruminates as she leaves the other two mothers dumbfounded.

Ashley gasps in realization how serious Veronica is and leaves after her, leaving Pam to anxiously gulp a mouthful of wine before she darts out of the kitchen after everyone else.

…

"I feel like we are on Fashion Police right now." Hanna comments aloud as she scrolls though her Instagram feed with the rest of her friends sitting on the couch.

"Well let me be the first to nominate Bridget Woo as worst dressed." Emily laughs as she comes across Bridget's post, "And check this out." She extends her hand as she shows the rest of the girls her phone, "She's 85% tequila and her dress is on backwards." Everyone collectively laughs and makes their own comments at the picture when Emily's eyes find Alison's. Emily's smile begins to fade when Alison looks at her with a lingering face pinched in concentration. Emily scratches the back of her ear as she brings the phone back into her, her eyes drifting back down at the screen.

"Hey," Spencer taps her phone repeatedly, "Did you guys drop your internet connection? I can't refresh my page."

"Just turn the Wi-Fi off and on again," Hanna responds as she looks over Spencer's phone, "My phone does that sometimes."

"Woah." Aria's eyes squint at her phone, "I have no bars nor any internet."

At the same time, everyone looks at the top of their phone to see all their connections and signals turned off, rendering their phones completely useless. Before anyone can comment, the power in the barn begins to flicker before they dim and shut entirely off, leaving the girls in completely darkness.

" _Nononononononono!_ " Aria cries out as she immediately holds onto the person closest to her on her right with her earlier fear coming to the surface as her head spins in both directions frantically.

"It's okay, Aria." Spencer tries to soothe the smaller brunette in distress, "It's probably the fuse box. The storm probably knocked it out. The backup generator should be turning on any moment now."

 _Silence._

"Ok, can you hurry the hell up and turn it back on manually? This is freaking me out." Hanna hastily retorts as her heart begins to beat uncontrollably fast.

"Ok, I'm on it." Spencer replies.

 _Silence._

"Aria?"

"Yes?"

"Can you let go of my arm?"

"Oh, right. Sorry." Aria releases Spencer out of her hawk grasp, "I just don't like dark places."

Before Spencer has the opportunity to stand up, the lights flicker back on, illuminating the whole barn once again.

"And there goes the generator." Spencer looks up at the lights from the ceiling, "Doing what it's supposed to do."

The girls let out a silent sigh of relief as the music begins playing again and everything goes back to normal. Hanna looks back at her phone to see the status of her connection didn't change.

"Dammit. The storm must have knocked out our connection too." She sighs as she drops her phone in her lap, "How am I supposed to judge everyone now?"

"Wait," Emily has a sudden epiphany, I think if we turn one of our phones into a hotspot, we can feed off each other's phones for signals or something." Trying the suggestion from the brunette, everyone goes into their settings and tries to tinker with their phone, seeing what they can come up with. Sitting at the edge, Alison looks up from her phone briefly. As everyone is focused on one thing, she feels an eerie feeling. A feeling that she's not sure if it's just a sudden breeze of air or her extra senses trying to tell her something. Deciding to take a brief look over her shoulder, Alison looks towards the door and sees nothing. She checks in the opposite direction as a sweep and sees a figure standing in the corner of the room next to the food and drinks table. Wearing a black men's coat with a large hood and besom pockets, Alison stops in instant terror. Her voice means to warn the girls but her brain takes the reaction sense of freeze as all she could do is widen her eyes. The worst nightmare she has, and has been having since this whole ordeal, is seeing a figure and not being about to move or scream.

 _Her worst nightmare i_ _s now her reality._

"You have unlimited data right, Ali?" Hanna asks with her eyes still glued to her phone screen. Hearing silence as a response within the span of three seconds, Hanna lifts her head up to look at the blonde, " _Alison_."

Fully ignoring Hanna question, everyone diverts from their phone to Alison, wondering why she's not answering. As inquiring as Aria became, she follows Alison's gaze slowly towards the corner of the room behind them to the find figure who held her silent.

" _Shit!_ " Aria exclaims as she jumps to her feet in complete horror. Immediately shooting a look over their shoulders, the remaining three girls shoot out of the couch in response of seeing their not-so friendly invitee.

" _What the hell do you want?!_ " Hanna shouts at the hooded figure.

" _Who the fuck are you?!_ " Emily spits out with more rage than nervousness.

" _And how the hell did you get in here?!_ " Spencer matches Emily's approach with her voice demanding and eyes filled with fire.

Not answering any of the girls' questions, Charles bows his head down at the direction of the table filled with bowls of snacks and drinks. Seemingly intrigued, he extends his black gloves into one of the bowls and picks up a single nacho before he dips the chip into the hot and melted cheese. The five girls stare in confusion yet dread as Charles lifts the chip into the shadow of his hood and lets out a satisfying crunch.

"Fuck this. I'm getting the hell out of here!" Hanna comments aloud as she scrams to the door. With no questions or hesitations, the other girls quickly follow behind not wanting to be left in close perimeters with their torturer. Expecting to be able to swing the door open, Hanna comes to a roadblock. "Wha-" Hanna jiggles the door handle to only find her fear coming to light. " _HOW ARE WE LOCKED IN FROM THE INSIDE WHEN THE LOCK IS ON THE OUTSIDE, SPENCER?!_ "

As the girls frantically change their eye direction from the door to Charles, Spencer rushes to the front and desperately shakes the door handle only to prove Hanna right.

 _The door is locked._

 _Leaving all five girls together with Charles._

" _HEEEEEEELP!_ " Spencer begins banging on the door in hopes of their parents hearing their distress.

" _SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP US!"_

" _MOM! MOM HELP US, PLEASE!"_

As Aria and Hanna join in Spencer's attempt of getting someone's attention from the outside, Alison turns to the unmoved Charles with bewilderment, "Why are you doing this?!" Feeling a sense of boldness, Alison takes a step in Charles direction before Emily grabs her arm to stop her from moving any farther.

"Alison, what are you doing?!"

"There is _five_ of us and _one_ of him. I'm tired of being scared of a shadow." Alison looks at Emily before going back to Charles, "Especially when that shadow is my brother." The pleas for help stop when Alison takes command within the dire situation. With Emily letting of Alison arm, the blonde turn back around towards the figure. "Why are you so hung up on torturing us? On torturing _me_? If you would just talk to me, Charles. We're…." Alison takes another slow step in his direction, " _We're family._ " Seeing that her words seemed to resonate with Charles, he turns his body in the direction of the girls. The remaining four silently gasp as they notice that Alison is actually getting through to him. Although his face is still hidden in the large hood, they mentally encourage Alison to keep going. "I don't know what happened to you back then but you're still my family," Alison pushes on. Charles ever so slowly begins to walks towards the girls as the four step backwards with every step Charles proceeds with, leaving Alison standing her ground unmoved. "And that's what family does. They talk to each other." Alison stands face to face with Charles who holds his head with a slight bow to stop any light to reveal his identity. Spencer, Aria, and Hanna hold their breath while Emily stands on her defenses, ready to lunge if Charles tries anything to Alison. Alison breathes out, internally shaking but externally strong, not wanting to scare Charles off since she's this close to him, "No matter how bad things get… _we talk to each other_. Talk to me, Charles."

Charles pulls back his hood with a lift of his head, meeting his gaze with Alison's for the first time unveiled, "Don't be so _dramatic_ , Ali." He scoffs out with a roll of his eyes, "Any more theatrical, I would have thought we were on a soap opera."

The girls' face drops with a shudder that makes every goosebumps and hair rise as the four girls stagger backwards over each other with their mouths extended downwards as far as the human jaw could allow. Their eyes widen in the wild mixture of confusion, devastation, anger, and betrayal as they witness their torturer before them unmasked.

 _Charles_.


	15. Chapter 15: II Slow Dances & Reminiscing

CHAPTER #15: II. Slow Dances & Reminiscing

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

"Wha….?" Alison voice drops to a hushed whisper as she studies Charles' facial feature for the first time before Hanna's voice roars from behind her, cutting her off mid revelation.

" _WHAT THE HELL?!_ "

Aria's tears of panic runs down her face with complete rage taking over instead as she takes a step towards her revealed torturer, " _ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!_ "

" _YOU'RE CHARLES?!_ " Emily joins in with the angry mob as her eyes sends jolts of hatred towards Charles standing in front of her.

Not letting the sudden comments affect him, Charles tilts his head to the side as his eyes connect with Spencer with almost a sympathetic look, " _Spencer_ ….Why so quiet? You look a bit off colour..."

Spencer stared at Charles with wide eyes, in fear to do as little as swallowing with her stomach churning with betrayal and deceit. The rest of the girls, excluding Alison, turn to look at the brunette to see that her breathing came in short, irregular gasps as she willed her eyes to look into his face even though they strained to turn away. "Y….y-you….you're….." Spencer voice quivered with unsteadiness as she felt like chains we're tied her, bringing her down below the surface to the words she'd spoken, " _You're Charles_ ….?"

"According to my birth and death certificate, _yes_." Charles nods his head casually as a calmness flowed over his words through his English accent, "I am _Charles DiLaurentis_."

"B-but…..you're… _you're Wren_ …."

"Let's not be so pejorative, shall we, Spencer?" Wren bows his head down as he took off his black gloves by slowly pulling on the fingers to remove them, "It brings the mood down quite fairly. Especially when I'm having a reunion with my sister." He lifts his head up to meet Alison's ice blue eyes with his own brown eyes as his lips curves into an untrusting smile while he bundles up his gloves and stuffs it in his pockets, " _Alison, how are you_?"

" _I…._ " Alison blinks at the looks at the unfamiliar face with disorientation. She turns her head behind her to see the looks on all the girl's face, not understand their anger, "Who...?"

"That's Wren Kingston _AKA_ Melissa's ex fiancé/ current boyfriend or whatever _the fuck_ they are!" Aria spits out in response for Alison's lack of knowledge.

"And he's was Mona's doctor when she was in Radley and tried to hit on me." Hanna adds in to Wren's description with disgust.

"You… you..." Spencer tries to finds her voice as she holds her eye contact with Wren. Listening to Spencer stutter, Wren gives Spencer a knowing smile as he cocks his head to the side, challenging the brunette while Emily still has her eyes narrowed at Wren.

" _You_ were my doctor. _You_ drugged me. _You_ put steroids in my system." Emily takes her steps forward, not fearing Wren in her moment of adrenaline, " _You_ ruined my chances at a swimming scholarship. _And you attacked me last night!_ "

"I didn't appreciate the kick to the leg you gave me either, Emily." Wren frowns, "And while we are on the subject of _me_ ," Wren places a hand on his chest, mocking Emily's resentment, "I must say that I was utterly impressed on how fast you got from Downtown Philadelphia back to Rosewood in record timing. Although, I'm sorry if I ruined your chances of getting laid. But next time," Wren extends his hand to tenderly touch Alison's face who flinches upon his touch, straining her face away from him, "I'd advise you to stay away from important family matters regarding Alison and myself. I'm pretty sure your sight would thank you in the long run."

Every sense of calmness left Emily's body and was replaced with wrath and impulse as she gives Wren a deathly stare from hell, " _I will fucking KILL YOU!_ " She lunges for Wren with the girls immediately jumping to her side to hold her back from doing anything reckless although they know he deserves it. In the heat of the moment, Emily's nails catches Wren's neck just enough to leave two clean lacerations. Feeling the sting of Emily's graze, without hesitation, Wren swings a powerful and authoritative slap to her face, forcing her to fall into the arms of her friends behind her. Before anyone else could breathe out an exclamation, Wren pulls out a 9mm strapped behind him and points it at the girls huddled around Emily.

" _GET UP_ ," Wren's voice booms with commandment with the weapon in his grasp in one hand as he rub his side of his neck hosting his new wound. "GET UP AND SIT DOWN _NOW_." Listening to Wren's demands the girls help Emily up and walk themselves to Spencer's couch with Wren having them at gunpoint, preventing them from another brass move. "It's a shame because I really wanted us to have a _civil conversation_." Wren painfully shakes his head with a tsk of his tongue, slowly walking in front of the seated girls, taking center stage of the living area with all their eyes on him, "I could have explained to you guys how I changed the locks with double cylinders locks before the party started, therefore, having the affirmation of knowing that during this meet, none of you were going to be able to escape. Your phone signal being blocked with a jammer was another topic of a conversation we could have had. I also would have told you that nobody is here to rescue you." Wren pouts in disappointment, "Not your " _prom_ dates", the rookie cops out in front -that are absolutely clueless by the way-, nor your mothers-"

"What did you do to our mo-"

"What did I _just_ finish articulating to you, _Hanna?_ " Wren swiftly walks up to the blonde, shutting her up immediately the moment he leans down and comes face to face. "You lost your right to a conversation." He seethes out his words before turning his head to look at Emily, "Since you all wanted to act _beastly_ , there will be no interaction between us. I will be the only one talking and you will not talk until I give you the right of passage." Wren stands up straight and looks over at all the girls, "Do I make myself clear?" The girls silently nod their understanding, not daring to as much as breathe knowing that Charles was very serious in his craft of work. " _Delightful_." He flashes a smile with ease. The same smile that flashes throughout Spencer's mind at a rapid pace, causing her to get physically nauseous, not adjusting to the sudden information. Breathing out his first word, he stops himself before looking down at the gun still pointed at the girls, "I…I can put this away with no problem, _correct_?" He nods as he looks at the girls for confirmation, "Because it would truly be a waste if _one_ of you decides to play hero, prompting me to stain this lovely alabaster colored sofa. I actually remember when Melissa and I brought it from _Ashley's Furniture_ when we moved in." Wren nodded slowly to himself as he brought his eyebrows together, studying the furniture, "It's Polyester upholstery so I can assure you, blood –especially at a large quantity- would just _seep_ into the herringbone pattern therefore staining and just…. just making an overall _bloody mess_." Knowing that his warnings could be loaded with truth, Aria turns her head over her shoulder as she tries to fight back the tears. The tears of knowing that this encounter could be their last encounter. Their finale scene. Just as they suspected.

 **Aria corrects herself as she sits on the couch's armrest next to Hanna, "I mean, there hasn't been any movements since the dollhouse." Aria looks over at Alison and Spencer with uncertain eyes, "I-I don't know. I might sound crazy but I don't know. As much as I want to say it's good. Too much quietness is making me uneasy."**

 **Hanna lifts her eyes from her phone and rests it in her lap, "What if the reason why A is quiet is because they're getting ready for a grand finale or something?"**

 **Everyone shifts their direction at Hanna with different varies of perturbed faces and narrowed brows.**

" _ **What**_ **?" Hanna shakes her head as she defends herself from the looks, "All the freaking crazies do it! And we're probably like sitting geese right now."**

Securing his weapon back to its holster, Wren claps his hand together with another hopeful grin at the girls, "I'm feeling a bit _nostalgic_. Let's have a catch-up session, shall we…?"

...

With the girls sitting on the couch with a red plastic cup filled with punch in each of their hands, Wren takes a sip from the cup with a satisfying ' _ah_ ' as he stands in front of the liars. With his black hoodie off, he wore his classic attire of a suit and tie, just to fit in for the prom theme, "I was born in 1987 to two adults: Jessica and Kenneth DiLaurentis. I have two siblings: Jason and Alison DiLaurentis and we all lived happily ever after." Wren stops in his pacing, "Well, you see, _they_ lived happily ever after because I was thrown away as a child. Not as an adult being cut from the family. Not as a teen soon to be graduating. _As a child_. A child that still wets the bed and thinks there's monsters in the closet if you turn off the lights. That's when they decided I was "unfit" to the family. According to my patient record, I was admitted because I was deemed unsafe. I had " _episodes_ ", " _tantrums_ "." Wren air-quotes as he slowly walked back and forth in front of his audience, "But last time I checked, all children throw tantrums!" Wren extended his arms with frustration, "Doesn't mean you stick them in the looney bin for it."

"You put me in scalding hot water." Alison remarks with a grimace.

" _No!_ " Wren corrects her with his voice raised, "That's how they tried to paint me. Like I was some devious child that wanted to kill my baby sister. _Alison_ ," Wren steps in the direction of the blonde with his eye widen in innocence, "you were the most precious thing to me. This little baby…" He turned his hands to look at his palms as if he was looking at the baby Alison, "This little baby with these _big blue_ _eyes_. So blue that it looked like God took the purest color he had and gave them to you. One day, I was in the room with you, just drawing little figures and entertaining myself when you started crying. But this cry, this… _loud_ cry, it was a cry of agitation and I knew I had to get Jessica or Kenneth but they were preoccupied. So I figured, I'm the big brother," Wren puffs out his chest as a-matter-of-factly with his lips pursed, "I should be the one to comfort you. I thought maybe you would enjoy a bath because when I would get bath, I would feel ridiculously better after anything I've been feeling prior. So what did I do? I went to the bathroom to run you a bath. I picked you up from the crib, undressed you and put you in the water so you could stop crying. So you could be soothed. So you could be happy." Wren softly smiles at Alison which makes the other girls' stomach turn in an uneasy feeling, "And that's when Kenneth ripped you out of the tub and screamed at me, telling everyone that I tried to drown you. That I _purposely_ put the water on hot and submerged you in the water to kill you." Wren turns his sights to the girls with his mouth hung open and eyebrows pinched into a frown, "Do you see how unfair that is?! Then that's when they coined that to all my other "act ups", said that I was a danger to the household and rode my ass to Radley. They just dropped me off like I was a kid at camp. Difference is that they _never_ came back to pick me up."

Wren sighs as he looks inside his cup. He takes another gulp from his drink before he continued on with his storytelling.

"Being in there since I was about 7, I seen some fucked up shit, heard some fucked up shit and been through some fucked up shit. I had _no one_. Not a damn person for me. Each of you have someone who cares about you," Wren makes eye contact with every single girl although they willed to look away from him, "someone to care for. Aria has Ezra, Spencer has Toby, Hanna has Caleb, Alison and Emily have each other but are too _ignorant_ to realize it…" He groans out in frustration, rubbing his temples, " _what about me?_ I never had the chance to experience that. Never experienced _true love_ , someone to love and someone to love me back." Wren looks to Emily, using his tactic of singling each girl out, using their experience to make them understand where he's coming from, "Don't you see how _sad_ that is, Emily? How that could really fuck up one's head?"

Not knowing if it was a rhetorical question of not, Emily plays it safe and nods, "Yeah…"

Wren holds Emily's gaze with his eyes drooped in gloom before sucks in his bottom lip and changes his gears back to everyone else. "I wanted a family too. I wanted to celebrate Christmas, Easter, St. Patrick's Day, and Halloween too. While you all were giving thanks during Thanksgiving dinner, I was fighting the male guards who were trying to hold me down because I was freaking out. Freaking out that I had nobody for the holidays." Wren's voice dropped with the girls' sudden hit of reality of where Wren was coming from, "Sure " _mom_ " took a seat on the board. Sure " _mom_ " wanted to oversee everything and probably felt guilty. But where was " _mom_ " when I was screaming out for her?" Wren peers over to Alison with her gloomy eyes being to burn from built up anger, "Where was " _mo_ m" when I had two men strap me down to a bed? Kicking and shouting and _praying_ for " _mom_ " to rescue me? _She wasn't there!_ " He lets out as laugh as he let his arms drop to his side, "All those visits she would do, internally, meant nothing to me. She had the power to get me out but didn't." He goes to raise this drink to his lips when he had a light bulb moment, "Oh! And for another slap in the face, they never even told you about me." Wren points to Alison, "Not to you, Jason, anyone! I was this…." Wren waves his hand in the air, trying to find the word to describe himself, "This _myth._ A _figment_ of one's imagination."

Wren beings to take in deep breaths as he started pacing again, making the girls panicky in their dresses.

"You just can't throw someone away like that." Wren continued to pace as he talked to the air. With every step he took, you could feel his aggravation building from his feet on up. "You held me in your stomach for nine months. _For nine months!_ You can't just _decide_ that you want to throw away a human life without any regards as to how they feel." Wren yells out to Jessica as if she was sitting on the couch with the girls, "To how _I_ feel!" Alison lets out a shaky breath as she feel for Charles' pain. Never knowing about him and now knowing that he was erased from her memory makes her become sympathetic to him. She goes to stay something when Wren shifted his feet suddenly onto Spencer, making the brunette jump at the abrupt movement, "You've stayed in Radley, Spencer. You saw how it's in there." Wren leans into Spencer, "Is it a place for small children?"

Spencer shakes her head before her mouth had the opportunity to utter a word "N-n-no-"

"No, Exactly!" Wren cuts her off and moves away from Spencer, allowing her to breathe again. He makes eye contact with Alison and all that aggression fades back into sorrow, "But during all of that….I still loved you, Alison." He slowly walks in her direction, "I still thought about my little, precious baby sister. _My doll_. Jason?" Wren scoffs with a flick of his wrist, "Couldn't care less about. But you...You were my favorite." Wren nodded his head with a soft smile wringing at the corners of his mouth, "Now Kenneth? He didn't come to see me not once. As soon as I left, he just washed his hands with me and was done. So I got my own father." Wren held up his chin as he began his slow pacing in front of the girls, "A gentleman who was more of a father-figure than that wrinkly, old bastard of a man that we share. I became close to my psychiatrist. _Very close._ He didn't think I was crazy. Misunderstood? Yes. Had a few mental issues?" Wren tilted his head to this side with a pout of his lip, "Probably. But he never treated me like a patient…he treated me like his son. And that I was. He would bring me books to read and little games to play, you know, to feed my brain. Dr. Palmer was his name. An older English man took me under his wing and taught me many things." Spencer eyes widen at the sound at the name-dropping Wren just did.

 _The same Dr. Palmer Toby and I talked to in an investigation of Toby's mother's death? The same Dr. Palmer that, indeed, worked at Radley for all those years before his demise? He mentored Wren?! What the hell is happening?!_

"He taught me a lot about life, especially his culture and lifestyle that I ended up taking up for fun. And after _years and years_ of practice….I developed a believable accent, which," Wren smiles to himself as he raises his cup to his mouth before he dropped the English accent and spoke with his native east coast accent, "I think sounds better than how I normally speak."

Gasps being made all throughout the room was so in unison that it made Wren chuckle while swallowing down his drink. Aria, Hanna, and Emily shared the faces of a blindside, never suspecting a plot twist as such. Alison stared at Wren with her mouth hanging slightly. Although the accent change didn't come as a big surprise because nobody in her family had an accent that ranged from out of the country, nonetheless, it was a very convincing one. Trailing down to the other side of the couch, Spencer sat in her seat getting paler and paler by the second. Having the most relevance to the deception Wren has done, her reaction was the essence of pure shock.

"Ok so your parents were horrible to you." Hanna snaps out at Wren's telling of his rough life, "Why take it out on us?! We did nothing to you."

"Ah, see." Wren continues talking in his normal accent as he wags his finger at the blonde with the click of his tongue, "That's where you're wrong, Hanna Banana. While in my stay Radley, I've met some interesting people. People of all ages. But there was one." He held up a finger, turning to make sure everyone saw, "One person that I became really attached to. Her name was Bethany Young. Does-do any of you recall that name?" Wren scrunches up his face as she cocks his head, mocking his uncertainty, "Short girl? Blonde hair? Kind of looks like Alison, I would say?" Wren eyes slowly drift towards Alison whose eyes had been staring out to the space in front of her. Wren arches a brow and steps to Alison, "Do you know a Bethany Young, _Ali?_ " Glancing up at Wren with her face crumpled, Alison goes to speak but mere sounds leave her throat. "Now, I won't tell a lie." Wren continues on, "Bethany reminded me of Ali _so much so_ that sometimes I would kind of groom her to be like Alison. Well…Alison I knew. Difference is, Beth was in for behavioral issues. She would have this violent bursts that needed to be treated and I understood that." Wren nodded to himself, pacing slowly in front of the couch, "But nonetheless, other than Dr. Palmer, she was the only person I had in this world. _Now,_ by the time I turned 16, I guess Jessica grew a conscious and decided to try to take me out of Radley. Maybe she _really_ wanted to make sure after almost 10 years that I was ready to go home?" Wren carelessly shrugs, "Who knows? But the time was there. She talked to Kenneth who, of course, didn't want me anywhere near _his children_."

Wren lets out a wry chuckle as he shook his head, looking down at the ground.

"His children. Like I was some junky hobo that she wanted to bring in for the night. Luckily for him, the institution didn't feel I should have been released yet. We were just hitting all kinds of obstacles. But that's when we came out with a plan." Wren turns to the girls, pondering the air as he stroked his chin, "If we faked a suicide, I could stay at Aunt Carol's house since she had she recently died and left the house to Jessica. I might be in secret but at least I would be out. At that moment, I didn't care how I left that building. As long as I was out, it was fine with me." Wren smiled and extended his arms in almost a bowing motion, "And so it was."

" _ **Charles DiLaurentis: Death by overdose suicide at 16.**_ " Wren lifted his hands in the air as if he was reading out a sign in front of him, "Although I left, I felt bad for Bethany still being stuck inside that hellhole so…I would keep in contact, writing her letters but under a new name. _Wren Kingston._ Now being by myself at Carol's house, with Jessica coming on the weekends here and there, I found myself doing a lot of things." Wren stared down at the ground as he walked from one end of the couch to the other, "One of them was finding out I had an obsessive compulsion disorder also known as OCD. Some people with OCD have fear of contamination or dirt, hoarding, or having to do something….and then doing it over and over and over and over and over and over again because everything has to be done six times. Six times. Six times. Six times. Six times. Six times." Wren catches his breath and stops in front of the middle of the room, looking at Spencer from the corner of his eyes, "But I…. I have Symmetry and Orderliness OCD."

" **You really dodged a bullet, not marrying my sister."**

" **I'm sure she'd be happy to hear that."**

" **I'm serious." Spencer pushes herself off of Wren's couch as he walked towards her, "My family is so screwed up that Dr. Phil wouldn't even take us on." Spencer saunters pasts Wren barley brushing shoulders.**

" **Well, my family has issues too." Wren looks back at Spencer finding herself at his table, popping open a bottle of white wine.**

" **Oh, really?" Spencer looks back with a mocking smile, "** _ **Like what?**_ **" She imitates her impression of an English accent, "Did somebody** _ **butter**_ _ **their bread**_ **with a steak knife?"**

" **Hey, just 'cause we don't play "high-low" at the dinner table doesn't mean we're not** _ **just**_ **as screwed up." Spencer hands Wren a glass she poured for him at which he kindly accepts, "And, for the record," He smiles at the brunette, "I'm looking, and I can't find anything wrong."**

 **Spencer lets out an amused chuckle. "I am** _ **plenty**_ **messed up."**

" **Enlighten me?"**

" **Uh, for one," Spencer begins to circle around Wren who keeps his eyes trained on her, "I have an** _ **obsessive**_ **need to be the best at** _ **everything**_ **." Spencer leans into Wren with a whisper, "I even have to win at yoga."**

" **All right, that's a quirk, not a fault," Wren corrects her with a point of his finger, "and I have plenty of those too."**

" **Like?" Spencer begins to circle around Wren again.**

" _ **Like?**_ **Um... All right, I'm a touch what you'd call OCD. Every book on my bookshelf has to be in alphabetical order or…I can't sleep."**

 **Spencer stops in front of Wren, looking past his shoulder at his bookshelf with a concerned look on her face, "** _ **Then**_ **... what is Aristotle doing on the bottom row?" Wren immediately snaps around and glances at his bookshelf, skimming the bottom row to find the book that he swore he put on the top. Spencer begins to giggle in enjoyment as she grabs the bottom of Wren face, pulling him back to her, "It's okay." Spencer whispers making Wren smile as his eyes flicker from Spencer's lips to her eyes, "Aristotle is exactly where he should be…."**

"-the obsessive fear to ensure everything feels ' _just right'_ because if it's not right…I'm not happy." Wren voice fades back into Spencer's head as she came back from the haunting flashback of Wren telling her of his condition. She begins to breathe irregularly yet softly to herself, picking up Aria's attention. Aria gently put her hands on top of Spencer's to let her know that, though the nightmare, she was there for her. "Among that, I was dying my hair, wearing contacts, bettering my accent, divulging into books and self-teaching methods, creating this _whole_ _new_ backstory; just really becoming who Wren Kingston is today." Wren chewed on his tongue as he cocked his head to the side, staring at Alison, "But along with everything else…I found myself trying to… _connect myself_ with my sister. Out of all the wrong-doings, I still cared about you. But see, then it became conflicting because I loved you- "

"Then why are you doing this to me if you love me so much?" Alison cuts Wren off mid-sentence, all eyes switch to her in surprise at Alison actually speaking up and asking the real questions, "Why are you trying to hurt me?"

"Because _I hate you_ at the same time." Wren loving voice turned cold and direct, making the girls catch a case of the chills at how quick he switched up, "I love how " _perfect_ " you are. How you were just… _flawless_ and _endearing_ ," Wren gazes at Alison without blinking, "just like how I've always imagined you to be. But then that's when the _hate seethed_ in." Wren's tones drops along with the narrowing of his eyes, "I hated how you got to live the perfect life with our family. How you weren't a secret, how you were adored like you were the golden child. Had friends that got to hang out with you while I was forced away from my beloved sister." Wren steps towards Alison making her leans back into the couch, trying to swallow but couldn't force anything to go down, "I always felt you and I had a stronger connection than Jason. You were my favorite so I couldn't dare keep myself from you. Even though I had to hide, I needed ways to have you still around me because –in my mind- I believed that I still had the opportunity to salvage our relationship and have our happily ever after."

Wren continues to hold Alison's gaze before he starts walking again.

"As I'm hiding in the shadows, Jessica got extremely clingy to Bethany for some strange reason." Wren furrowed his brows as the skin around his eyes grew tight in confusion, "She would spoil her by taking her out, buying her clothing, and even buying her a _horse_." Wren stops and looks at the girls in disbelief, "A _horse!_ Now, I'm thinking to myself, _"What the hell? I never got a horse."_ But when you're fucking the patient's father, you'll do just about anything to keep her happy, won't you?" Wren lets out a wry laugh as the girls cringe at wren's choice of words and sense of humor, "That's why when Bethany pushed Marion off the roof, Jessica went and paid Widen to protect her _fragile little girl_."

"What?" The girls respond collectively with Hanna and Emily glancing at Alison with their mouths dropped and Aria looking at Spencer with the exposure of the long-awaited secret.

"You mean to tell me that-"

"And that's what drove you mad, wasn't it, Alison?" Wren cuts off the girls' emotional responses as he confronts Alison who sinks deeper and deeper into the couch, mentally wishing to disappear, "Your sweet mother was giving another girl all her attention and you _hated_ it. She a fucking mental patient! Why is Jessica putting _her_ on the same boat as _you?!_ " Wren mocks Alison's train of thought from three years earlier,"And that's when you decided to befriend, Bethany. Becoming her pen-pal. Now, I would know because she told me all about _the great and nice_ , _Alison_. Of course, I saw nothing wrong with that." Wren dismissively scoffs at Alison, shaking his head in aversion, "But that's where I was wrong. I thought I knew you when I really didn't. Bethany finds out about the affair and there goes " _Aunt Jessie"_! And Beth..." Wren wags his finger, "She's a _pretty_ talented artist. The drawings of the demonic interpretation of Jessica?" Wren clicks his tongue with an impressive look on his face, "Quite the visual. But through the turmoil with the scandal, good ol' Alison is right there with the shoulder to cry on. That's when she told me that you had invited her over for Labor Day, Sept 1, 2009. She did mention she was going but _also_ for the intention of confronting Jessica with the affair. I don't know how she managed to do it but," Wren nods to himself, "she did leave. _And so did I._ The opportunity to meet up with Bethany again _and_ the chance to see you face to face since you were 11 months?" Wren lets out an excited breath out as he looked up at the ceiling, reflecting on that night, "I couldn't pass it up. Problem is…Bethany and I never got to see each other because of the different directions we were in."

 **Scampering around the wooded area of the DiLaurentis' house, Charles rubs his eyes as he tries to make his way around to the best of his knowledge.**

" **Bethany!" He cupped his mouth and whispered out as loud but low as he can in hopes of finding his blonde friend, "** _ **Bethany!**_ **Beth, where are you?!" Thunder roared in the distance causing Charles to look up at the dark grey skies. He pulls the hood over his head as he continued on his sneaking adventure.**

…

" **Bethany?" Charles continued to whisper about with the sounds of crunching leaves and snapping twigs sounded under his feet. After creeping around longer, virtually circling around over and over than he had hoped for, Charles hears a faint name from a female calling in the distance that makes his stop in his tracks. "Bethany?" He softly called out as he waits for a response. The voice beckoned again and Charles went from speed walking to almost jogging in the direction of the sound, feeling the spark of joy at the realization of reuniting with his friend. Hearing the name calling get louder and louder, Charles finds himself nearing the front of the DiLaurentis' house with seconds away from jumping out into plain sight. "Bethany!"**

" **Spencer!"**

" _ **Fuck!"**_ **Charles hisses to himself as he quickly shoved himself back into the darkness of the woods.**

" **Spencer, wait-"**

" **What?!" Another voice yelled back to the first voice. Charles tried to disguise himself as much as he could as he lurked upon an intense conversation by two girls.**

" **Please don't tell anybody!" The brunette cried out to the blonde in the yellow top, "Please, look I'll-I'll do anything, ok? I'll get down on my hands and knees-I'll beg you if that's what you want me to do,** _ **please!"**_ **Charles squints his eyes as he tried to make out the females, trying to understand the situation that presented himself in front of him. However, with the angle he caught them at, he can't see their faces that well.**

 _ **Who is that?**_

 _ **Why is she crying and begging?**_

 _ **What did she do?**_

 **Listening on to the conversation, Charles begins getting impatient as his brain still wonders off to Bethany since he has yet to see her. He takes his eyes off of the two girls and looks around his surrounded to see if he could find another person.**

"… **.** _ **Thank you**_ **….Thank you, Alison."**

 **Charles heart stops with his eyes widen at the name that just slipped out of the girl's mouth. He instantly turns his head forward again to see the brunette giving her thanks to the blonde before she slowly walks off.**

" _ **Ali…**_ **?" Charles quietly whispers to himself as he looks over the blonde's physically appearance. Feeling a surrealistic sense of anxiousness, Charles is frozen in his feet while he watches Alison walk away towards the back of her house.**

 _ **Alison**_ **…Alison, it's you…**

…

 **Pursuing after Alison through the wooded area, he watches her talk to an older man in her backyard. Knowing that it wasn't his time yet, he stayed and lingered around, making sure wherever she went he followed behind. After her conversation, Alison wonders back towards the front of her house again. Having this buildup of passion, feeling his heart was about imploded from the adrenaline, Charles follows her back to the front of the house and finally sees Alison starting to slow down. With his body acting out before his brain had time to think, Charles slowly emerges out of the trees about 20 feet away.**

"I couldn't believe it. I mean, I had pictures and videos of you but…none of that beats actually being right next to you." Wren shakes his head, watching the flashback in the air in front of him as the girls listen closely to that fatal night that changed their lives forever, "All I could think about how much you have grown. How much I have missed you and how much I have missed being in your life. My thoughts, my emotions…they were going at the speed of light. I just wanted to spin you around and say, "Hey. It's me, Charlie." Wren softly smiles before it begins to fade away, "However, before, I told myself I wouldn't make a scene but once I was there, I wanted you to see me, to remember me."

 **Charles slowly walks towards Alison, as she stops and looks out into the distance. Charles breathing turns shaky with every step he gets closer towards his estranged sister.**

"All the time I spent in Radley, all the time I spent isolated at Aunt Carol's, I've spent hours upon hours just imagining scenarios of us together again. Of how our life could have been. What it still could be. _How it should be._ " Wren bites his lip and drifted away, like he'd forgotten where he was, "I knew that I just couldn't go back. I knew I couldn't go back without you. I needed you to help bring everything to life. Everything I worked so hard on, I needed you to carry it out. To make it _just right_."

 **Charles' eyes stay glued on Alison as he picks up a nearby rock at his feet, not daring to look away, not even for a second. He inched closer towards her as he made sure the rock was tight within his grasp. Getting as close as he did behind her, her sweet scent fills Charles' nostrils as he feels chills shooting through his body, putting him in a complete trance.**

"Then…"

 **Charles raises the rock.**

"Impulse took over."

 **He slams the rock across the back of Alison's head, instantly drawing blood from the blunt trauma. Immediately, Alison went limp, toppled over, and hit the ground with the gash streaming blood on the side of her face. Charles' chest rises and falls heavily from adrenaline, gazing at the unconscious Alison with a fixed, vacant stare as he hears the sound of a door swing open and rushed footsteps running down the porch stairs.**

" _ **What did you do?!**_ **"**

 **The sudden, panicked voice draws Charles out of his trance, back into the reality of the world. Wren glances down at Alison on the ground bleeding and instantly drops his mouth in astonishment.**

" _ **What have you done to my child?!**_ **" Jessica shakes Charles with all her might, yelling in his face with terror written all over her face.**

" **No….** _ **nononono!**_ **" Charles stammers as he looks into his mother's eyes, imprisoned by her glare. "I…I….I didn't mean it!" Charles finally pushes the words out, slowly stepping closer to Alison's body, "I didn't mean to hurt her!"**

" _ **Get back!**_ **" Jessica roars at Charles, causing him to stumble back, tripping over his own feet. He looks up at her mother with terrorized eyes as he felt the dirt wet underneath his hands. "Don't come any closer!"**

…

 **Charles starts to firmly wring his wrists as he sits with his back against a tree, watching his mother bury Alison in their backyard.**

" **What have you done?!" Jessica weeps with every force made to pick up and drop dirt over her baby's body. "What have you done?!"**

" **I didn't mean to, I swear!" Charles chokes out with this throat beginning to tighten along with the stinging of his tears, "I…I would never hurt, Ali, mom," Charles lifts his head up to look at his mother who's back is towards him, "You have to believe me,** _ **please**_ ** _!_ I would never hurt, Ali…" He shakes his head as he wrings his wrists tighter, causing him pain, "I would never hurt, Ali…"**

 **Jessica stops digging and wipes her nose with the back of her hand, taking a glance at Charles for the first time since they walked to their backyard, "Get out. Get out of here before someone sees you." Charles unsteadily rises to his feet with his eyes stuck on Alison's body disappearing behind the dirt. His face is ruined with regret and sorrow as the tears continue to fall down his face at a rapid speed. Charles raises his trembling hands to his face, not knowing how to react before he places his hands on top of his head in panic. "Get out!" Jessica's shouts clashes with the thunder rumbling around them, making Charles jump. He obeys Jessica's command and runs off into the woods, sobbing uncontrollably as he disappears away from the house.**

"I never intended on hurting you, Alison-"

"But you hit her over the head with a rock." Hanna finds the voice to speak up as everyone sits shocked from the story, "You already said you hated her so why should we believe you?"

"Because _I didn't_."

Emily joins Hanna in defense of Alison, "You'd never hurt Alison but everything you've been doing-"

"No!" Wren roars back causing the girls to jump, "You're not going to overpower me. You will _shut up and listen_ because I'm not done." Wren avoids Alison's eyes that are filled with tears. He bows his head down and gazes at his shoes,"News breaks that Alison was missing and I had to sit and listen to every "lead" they thought they had with the guilt of killing her. I couldn't have the life I wanted because Ali was gone. I didn't rot in a hole as you could see, I continued working on my character, my new identity. Dr. Wren Kingston. But although I didn't have Alison anymore, you four," Wren glances up at the remaining girls on the couch who all stare at him with eyes widen in astonishment, "You guys were the closet thing I had to her so the _slight_ fascination continued."

" _You_ …." Alison's voice begins to crack as she tried to stop her tears from falling, "You killed our mother."

"No," Wren takes a step back with his face dropped as if he was offended, "No, I did not. I was betrayed by our mother, the one who was supposed to look out for me. When she told me that she couldn't protect me anymore and that I was going to blown out the water I was _pissed_ but I did not _kill her._ "

"You and Melissa…?" Spencer sputters out with her voice completely gone, only focusing on one fact that's been running through her mind like crazy, "You were never a thing?"

"Oh no, Melissa did like me." Wren nods his head with reassurance, "But I knew who she was and what circles she ran in. I just put myself in her path and made her fall for me. That way, I could be closer to you guys. Which, I was. My four other "perfect" dolls."

"You're a sick bastard." Hanna comments aloud with her face scrunched up in disgust.

"This is supposed to be a safe space, Hanna." Wren sighs with a roll of his eyes, "How can I continue on pouring myself out to you all if you keep tearing me down? Where are your manners?"

"When I'm locked in a room with a deranged psychopath, I forget common courtesy, _excuse me_."

"You just…lied about everything." Spencer shook her head as she glared at Wren with tears rolling down her face, "You deceived us in the worst way possible. How could you?"

"See, Spencer," Wren steps in the direction of the brunette with his head hanging low, "I don't know what it was but with you…things were different for a moment. With Melissa, everything was pretty much phony. Well, at least from my part. But with you, there was…" He looked into Spencer's hard eyes, "something. And for a moment in time, I liked you."

" _You fucking pedophile._ You tried to hook up with-"

"So as time continued on, watching you girls from up close and from a distance," Wren cuts off one of the girls once again, not allowing them to deviate his story, "I started noticing that you guys were being harassed by someone. Some… _anonymous_ character. Soon after, Mona had been admitted into Radley. I was absolutely _fascinated_ with the game she was playing. Controlling your every moved with no resistance from anyone? I now look back and wonder to myself why haven't I thought of it earlier?" Wren smiles a mischievous grin with a small twinkle in his eyes, "That's the _perfect game_. Going into Radley as Dr. Wren Kingston, credentials I obviously faked, I watched over Mona. Just studying her. I watched Hanna visit Mona, even let CeCe visit, only in exchange for whatever she learned from her."

"This still doesn't make sense to why you tortured us." Aria shakes her head still not understanding the moral of Wren's backstory, "All of this over an _obsession_?"

"While Mona was in Radley, the damn nurses switched up her medication, causing her to spill everything to Cece." Wren sighs out of fake concern, shaking his head, "She told Cece about being A and that Alison wasn't dead and she how she helped her fake her death. Mona apparently told Alison she'd make sure her death was authentic so she can run away. Now, with so many people roaming around September 1st, everyone has their own version of what they saw of what happened that night but Mona's version caught my attention..." Wren eye's catches Emily's whose heart sink at his sudden coldness, " _Big fucking time_."

 _ **A is Charles**_

 _ **Charles is Wren**_

 _ **Wren is an abandoned DiLaurentis, holding hardly any memories in his sibling's mind.**_

 _ **Being held captive at their own party, what is the fate of the Liars?**_


	16. Chapter 16: III Last Goodbyes

CHAPTER #16: III. Last Goodbyes

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** _ **Italicized Bolded is a flashback within a flashback.**_ (….) is an indication that time has passed.

 **Coming back towards Alison's property, Mona silently laughs to herself at the unfortunate events. The same Alison DiLaurentis that would ridicule her at any given moment is now the same Alison DiLaurentis begging for her help. Getting hit over the head, buried, and then pulled out by Carla Grunwald, coming across Alison was just the luck of the trade that night. Loser Mona would do whatever Alison needed to help her, but manipulative Mona will do what she needs to do to run Alison out of town. That's the reason she agreeing to help in the first place. Not because she cares, but because with Alison gone, it'll be her time to shine. So, first order of business, getting Alison a disguise and some clothing to send her ass packing.**

 _ **So…If there is no Ali in the ground…?**_ **Mona ponders to herself for a moment before she decides to check out the scene of Alison's backyard to know what she's working with.**

…

 **Using her stealth capabilities to stay unnoticed, Mona makes her way through the wooded area. Trying to stay unhidden from the random people of Rosewood, roaming around, Mona makes it to Alison's house unscathed and unnoticed. With the flash of the nearby lightning leading the way, Mona hears nearby yelling that makes her stop in her tracks and perk her ears. Waiting for a second before she hears the yelling continue, she decides to scope what's going on by following the sound.**

" _ **It sounded like someone was in desperate times, yelling the way they did." Mona remarks to Cece, scratching the back of her head as Cece leaned forwards in her chair.**_

" _ **What were you hearing?" Cece narrows her eyes as she studies the drowsy Mona in front of her, "What were they saying?"**_

" **What are you doing?!" The female voice yells out, unable for Mona to make out who it belonged to nor who they were talking to. "Stop! Please, stop!"**

" _ **It was the scream of someone who knew that there time was about to expire…" Mona shrugs with a sympathetic pout as her eyes drift off to the side.**_

" **Stop!" Mona gets closer to the voices as she jogs in its direction through the wooded enclosure around Alison's backyard. Finally getting the angle she needed to see what was going on, she moves the leaves and branches out of her way to see the entire backyard. Seeing a frantic girl in a yellow stumbling backwards as a girl slowly approaches her with a shovel in hand. Moving almost dazed-like with the slow pacing, the hysterical girl lost her footing backing up into the beginning foundations of an in-progress construction site and falls into the dirt, still looking up at the girl in front of her, "Stop! Stop!"**

 **With a crack of the shovel, the girl's scream was silenced as she lays flat out on the ground. Mona gasps, not sure where to put her hands in utter surprise of what she had just witnessed. The girl wearing the purple jumpsuit towers over the unconscious body for what seems like a long minute before she drops the shovel at her feet. Mona watches the teen, fixedly look around her surroundings, looking in Mona's direction just as the lightning flashed and reflected off the girl's face. Mona's eyes widen with amazement and disbelief as the girl walked off in the opposite direction, going back to where she came from.**

" _ **Wait…" Cece readjusts herself in her chair with a surprised yet conniving smile coming across her face, "You mean to tell me….that…Emily killed Bethany?"**_

 _ **Mona tilted her head at the blonde with her motionless stare holding Cece's eyes as she awaited an answer. "It really amazes me after all this time, Alison, how you actually managed to stay away without getting yourself exposed or killed."**_

 _ **Cece narrows her eyes at Mona as she leaned back into her chair, crossing her arms.**_

" _No! No fucking way!"_ Aria comments aloud at Wren's story.

" _That's bullshit!"_ Spencer leans forward with her eyes trained on Wren. Knowing that he is a fake and a liar, the last thing she going to do is allow him to fable a story to paint one of them as a villain.

" _You're just making shit up now_." Hanna spits back as well, adding more to the verbal assault squad, "None of us even knew you existed let alone Bethany."

"That's a lie." Emily looks down flabbergasted as she shakes her head, trying to catch her breath as if she had just gotten sucker punched, "Mona is manipulative and a liar. I was asleep during majority of that night!"

Alison's eyes drift off to the right as she stayed quiet, being the only who has yet said anything in Emily's defense.

And of course,

 _Wren notices._

"What's wrong's Ali?" Wren cocks his head as he begins to mock her silences, "Dead girl's got your tongue?"

"Tell him, Alison!" Hanna shoots Alison an angered glance, "Tell Wren that he and Mona are fucking wrong and that Emily wasn't out there. If anything, Mona probably whacked that girl and blamed it on Emily to get the heat off her!"

The blonde sighed to herself, "...You were awake at one point…" Alison muttered under her breath, bowing her head in Emily's direction, not looking her in the eyes.

" _What?_ " Emily eyes nearly bulge out of her head with Alison wrong choice of words that she was _not_ expecting her to say in her defense.

"It was after I saw Spencer," Alison's eyes stay away from Emily and the entire room's gaze, "before I was going to venture out to do my rounds of trying to figure out who was harassing me. I ran into you and…we talked."

"Talked about what?!" Hanna speaks up, not letting Emily get the chance to question the blonde herself.

" _About us_." Alison raises her head to look at only Emily who stares back at her with massive amount confusion, "About that letter you wrote to me three days prior talking about your feelings towards me. Seeing that I knew the alcohol had affected you a bit and that I couldn't be bothered with your antics at that time, I blew you off. You were visibly upset when I told you to go back to the barn and when you tried to get me to stay, I walked off leaving you out there." Alison sighs out regrettably, "I remember checking over my shoulder and seeing you walking back in the opposite direction. I don't know if you went back to the barn to sleep….or to drink more but….you…you were out there."

 _Wait_ …" Aria sadly breathed out, closing her eyes because she knew she didn't want to ask what she was about to, "When you came back to the barn, Spencer, when we woke up…. Didn't you say you heard someone scream?"

Spencer mouth parts open slightly as she remembers he first words to her friends when they all collectively had woken up, "Yeah…it wasn't right then and there but it was at some point while I was out….I-I…. _I thought it was Alison_ …."

With the blindside of Alison's words, Wren's story and her past, Emily remembers what it was like to get drunk right after the summer of junior year. Falling asleep at Spencer's house and then finding herself at Alison's grave. Along the way, going to Paige's house and kissing her, going to a diner, catching a ride from Jenna, all before she was found by her friends at the burial site. All memories she has no recollection of. Moments in her life where she was up and about, walking and making full blown conversations with people, she didn't remember any of it. Even when she was reminded of it. Right at that moment of realization, she felt like throwing up.

"Which brought me to my next adventure," Wren steps out and begins his pacing once again with the girls still in disbelief of what they just learned, " _Checking out Mona's alibi_. If Alison was indeed dead, there would be a body in the grave. _So what did I do?_ I immediately went to get Emily, seeing that all you girls were over Spencer's. But the problem was that Emily wasn't there. Of course, a pattern of Emily disappearing from the group starts to trend a pattern, don't you think?" Wren cocks his head, almost taunting the girls, "After a while of looking around, I find her leaving a vehicle and walking the sidewalk. Since it was late at night and seeing her as intoxicated as she was, keeping her in that state of stupor and taking her wasn't hard to do at all. Getting her to the grave sight of Alison's, that's when I started digging. When all three of us were there, getting to the casket and flipping that son of a bitch open, it was just as what I had suspected it to be. _Empty_. Nothing but white padding in the inside."

"Wait three?" Aria spits out in question, "Who was the other person with you?"

"The other person who was had part in that whole night." Wren taps his chin as he stopped and stood in front of Spencer, locking eyes with her for a long painful moment before he opened his mouth, "… _Melissa_."

"No," Spencer shakes her head, already starting to gain a migraine from all the stress she's been under, "You're lying."

"Now why would I lie?" Wren extends his hands outward like a magician revealing the twist of his trick, "It would make sense that Melissa would be standing there in the beautiful red coat of hers while I dug up the grave, seeing that they both murdered someone that night."

" _This-I…I don't understand this!"_

" _Melissa is red coat?!"_

Wren massages the side of his neck, the part that Emily had scratched earlier, "And since Mona was telling the truth of Alison really running away and Bethany's body being identified instead, that's when I left Emily at the grave to look guilty and he blackmailed Melissa to be black widow and red coat when I needed her to be when Cece couldn't do it."

"What the flying fuck is going on right now?!" Hanna tries to wrap her head around with all the information overload. Everything she thought she knew was just pulled out from underneath her. "Melissa was black widow?!"

Aria shook her head, quietly mumbling to herself, "I knew I always found it odd how Melissa and Wren all of a sudden got back together…. _"_

"From that night the game was forever changed. I took the fucking game from Mona and made it my own." Wren looks up at the ceiling as he clenches his fist, "Knowing that Bethany, someone I cared about has been dead all this time, the only/closest family I had, and you _bitches_ took her away." Wren spits out vengefully, "But the whole fucking problem is that I…" He steps close into the girls with his eyes narrowed at every single one of them, "I can't pinpoint which one of you did it. _Mona saw Emily with a shovel!_ " Wren impatiently fails his arms in the air making the girls jump, " _Melissa saw Spencer with a shovel!_ No one knows every single piece of that night! I know what _I_ saw, Cece and Mona know what _they_ saw, Melissa knows what _she_ saw….But there were about 15 people roaming from Spencer's house to Alison's. 15 people mean 15 different recollections. Maybe if I talk to someone else, they'll say they saw Hanna and Aria with a shovel too!" In their defense, Aria and Hanna try to speak up but are hushed with Wren continuing on with his rant, " _But one thing remains_ , somebody did it because there was a _fucking body_ that was _buried_. So guess what…. _everyone fucking gets it_. Since everyone wants to hold secrets and tell _lies_ , my mission was to make you _choke_ on them! A _ll of you!_ And that's…" Wren catches his breath as he shook his head still fuming inside, "that's when I made my official mark."

 **Mona played with dolls, I play with body parts. Game on, bitches –A**

"You all could have been perfect." Wren clenches his shaky fist as he bows his head, "We could have been one be happy family. _All of us._ But then every single one of you ruined it!" Wren screams out making the girls fear for their lives as they try to keep themselves together. However, with every word coming out of Wren, they lose hope for themselves inside seeing how delusional Wren/Charles really is.

"No…This is wrong-you're wrong!" Emily strains her voice as her eyes latch onto Wren with tears of confusion and anger rolling down her face, "I didn't murder anyone! _We_ didn't kill anyone. If anything it was Mona lying to you!"

"SHUT UP!" Wren lunges towards Emily. She shrieks out, turning her face the other way with her eyes slammed tight as Wren gets into her personal space, "Shut the hell up! You don't have _any_ say anymore! After all the lies you guys have been telling over the course of these years, do you _really_ think I'm going to believe you now?!" Wren grasps Emily's shoulders and shakes her. " _HUH?!"_

…

"How long do you think this ' _prom_ ' is going to be?" Ezra asks Toby and Caleb as they walks towards the back of Spencer's house. Coming with Ezra's new equipment a small bag of snacks with a bag of beer being discreetly hidden, the guys try to track as much ground before being seen by the moms.

"Before…I would have given it another hour but with these bad boys, I say we're all going to pass out in the barn." Toby responds with a light smile on his face.

"I should have never let you guys talk me into this." Ezra regrettably shakes his head.

"Did you guys notice that Spencer's mom's car is gone from the driveway?" Caleb informs the guys on a small detail that he picked up on as they passed the driveway. "Do you think they left?"

"No…" Toby frowns, "Why would _all_ the mothers leave their daughters by themselves? That doesn't even sound like them."

"I don't know. I just have this…eerie feeling."

Ezra's ears perked up at Caleb's suspicions, "Eerie feeling of what?"

"I don't know." Caleb begins to scratch the back of his ear in apprehension, "It's….just a strange feeling. Like something bad might happen and I…I don't understand it or why."

"I'm going to check inside the house real quick to see if they did leave," Toby offers as they come up to the back porch. The guys stop their walk and watch Toby jog up the steps and open the back door.

"So this feeling," Ezra turns to Caleb, "Is it like the feeling of nervousness or…?"

"Kinda. It's like the air is different." Caleb looks up at the grey, clouded skies, "I normally don't ignore my gut because it's always telling me something that I'm not noticing."

"And what are you not noticing?"

"That's the problem. I have no idea." Caleb surveys the back of Spencer's house, trying to see if he could pin anything abnormal, "Whenever something feels wrong or doesn't feel right, I always follow it."

Ezra takes on a suspicious eye for a moment, observing Caleb's body language, "I know you never talk about it but…whatever happened to you in Ravenswood?"

"Trust me," Caleb turns to look at Ezra, "you don't want to know."

Ezra ponders for a second and goes to respond when Toby emerges out of the house.

"Nobody's home. They're all gone."

Ezra and Caleb exchanges looks with one another, not saying anything but saying everything at the same time. "Hey –uh- Toby?" Ezra breaks away and looks towards the officer, "Could you put this bag inside the house?"

"The beer?" Toby walks down the steps towards the guys, "Why? I thought we were bringing it with us into the barn?"

" _Yeah_ …The scene of alcohol, teens and an adult is not going to look good in a minute." He extends his hands to pass the bag with the beer inside, "Can you?" Toby nods and reaches for the drinks, "Matter fact take all of this inside." Ezra corrects himself, giving Toby everything so he's empty handed. Toby doesn't oppose and goes on back inside with Caleb and Ezra past pacing it to the barn house.

"You don't think…?"

"Something we didn't notice." Caleb looks at Ezra with a knowing grimace, "We left, moms are gone, cops in the front are blind to everything back here…perfect scene for an encore of what happened yesterday."

Getting to the front door, the two guys quietly close in on the entrance out of precaution. With the door window having blinds that left a little leeway of seeing what's inside, Caleb crouches down and sneaks to the corner of the door, slowly rising his head to peek his eyes through the window.

" _Shit_." Caleb whispers as he quickly ducks down with Ezra following his lead.

" _What_?" Ezra whispers back with his nerves going from 20 to 200 with one word, "What did you see?"

"Someone is in there with them."

" _Who_?!"

"I don't know, I didn't get a good look but I see him." Caleb looks around for something, trying to collect his thoughts, "They're sitting on the couch and he's in front of them."

"Do you think it's Charles?! How do we know it's not a cop or-or something?" Ezra asks with his eyes widen like deer in headlights.

"Do you want to open the door and find out, risking it if it is him?" Caleb whispers back with a brow arched, "Besides, Hanna and I were texting and randomly she didn't write back. That phone is practiced glued to her face and she hasn't texted me for almost 15 minutes now. Something is up in there."

" _Fuck!_ " Ezra hisses out as he looks around, running his hands through his hair and rubbing his face aggressively, " _Fuckfuckfuck!_ We should have never left!"

Caleb notices Toby walking towards the two crouching guys confused before Caleb waves him down to keep quiet. Toby immediately bends down as Caleb and Ezra meet him halfway through the yard.

"What's going on?"

Caleb hushes Toby's talking voice with his whisper, "I need you to alert the cops up in the front that there is a possibility Charles is with the girls-"

"What?!" Toby's voice jumps a level from whisper in complete disbelief, not understand what Caleb is saying.

" _Shhh_!" Caleb flails his hands out in front of him to quiet Toby, "Go and tell them! But-but tell them to come quietly! The last thing we need to do is tip him off."

"Alright." Toby gets up to turn around before Caleb grabs him.

" _Wait!_ "

"What-what?"

Caleb squints his eyes at Toby then looks over at Ezra, "No. You-Ezra. You go instead."

" _Wait_ , why me?!" Ezra gasps in Caleb's change in plan, "I'm not leaving knowing Aria is in there with that son of a bitch!"

"And so is Hanna, Spencer, Emily, and Alison." Caleb shoots back at the visibly panicky brunet, "But Toby knows the layout of that barn and I need that knowledge." Ezra chests rises and falls at a quickened pace as he stares down Caleb, not wanting to move, "I _need him_ , Ezra."

Knowing that Caleb is in fact right and that Toby would be better help, he gives up his defenses for the betterment of the team, "Ok. Fine."

"Good." Caleb pats Ezra on the back, "Remember what I said. I need this area _quiet_." Ezra nods his head in understanding and runs off towards the front of Spencer's house. Caleb and Toby jog back towards the barn but away from any view that could give them away, "There is a back door, right?"

"Yeah. It doesn't lead to the main area right away so we should be good."

"Good. Good." Toby and Caleb decide to scale the side of the barn for access to the back. Trying to make their way in the darkness of the night with trees and nature working against them, Caleb hits something that causes him to lose his footing and almost trip. " _Shit_." He hisses out as Toby grabs his phone. The two guys look back with Toby using his display screen for light.

"What the fuck is this?"

…

" _So_ ," Wren drags a chair to the middle of the living area and flips it backwards, putting his chest against the backrest, "Someone ask me how the game ends." The girls stay silent in fear of saying anything, only to get the still air ripped by Wren's commanding voice, "Don't all ask at fucking once!"

" _H-how does it end…?"_

" _What ar-are you gonna do?"_

" _How d-does the game end?"_ The girls sputter out a low murmur for a reply to keep Wren pleased as each of their minds rummage for a place to stay calm in the midst of life and death thoughts.

"I'm glad you asked. I have IEDs placed over _there_ ," He points their direction towards the front door, " _there_ ," he points towards the side of the room where the food and drinks were hosted, " _aaaand back there_ …" He points to the space behind him.

" _IEDs?_ " Aria croaks in an irregular breath.

Emily's stifled crying causes the girls to glance over at her. "It's…" She wipes away her tears with the back of her hand as her head hangs low, "He means improvised explosive devices…My dad would call them roadside bombs. They would use them when he would go overseas…"

" _Ah, Emily_! Surprising everyone with come up!" Wren respectfully beams, "Fun fact. People visualize them as a tool only for insurgents or groups affiliated with Al-Qaeda or the Taliban, like how Emily explained with her father. _But truth is_ , they're cheap and a relatively easy-to-use tool against both civilians and advanced militaries." Wren's eyes drift over to the side in thought as he lets out a sigh, "You'd be surprised how much you could learn from YouTube tutorial videos these days…" Staying silent for a few moments, the room slowly begins to be filled with sniffles and soft sobbing by the reality of what's to come. Wren snaps out of thought, glancing over at the pretty but sad prom attenders. Gripping his hands on the top of the chair, Wren leans back like a restless schoolboy as he grimaces at the girls, "When you fight fire with fire you get burned, right? Well, this is my fire. One click of a button and this backyard shed turns into Rosewood's fire pit." Wren raises up a remote for all the girls to see, causing them to panic more than they were before, "Do you think Rosewood PD would be able to tell which body belongs to which?" Wren questions with a pout, "Probably not because everything would be singed to an oblivion...Everything would just blend in with the ashes..." Wren turns his head to look at Aria whose face is stained with her tears, "Who do you think would attend your funeral, Aria?"

"Why would you do this?" Hanna spits out with venom seething out of her, "You're in here too, _dumbass_."

"Do you not see?" Wren laughs with his arms extended out, "I'm a wanted man, Hanna! If they catch me alive, I'm going away for a long, _long_ time."

"I fucking hope they use the firing squad your ass." Hanna gravelly stares Wren in his eyes, showing him no fear.

"I mean…." Wren bounces his head from side to side with a pout, "that's a possibility. Death penalty in Pennsylvania is very much in full swing." Wren clears his throat as he kick-pushes his chair out the way, standing on his feet with the remote in hand, "So… Who wants to do the countdown with me? We can pretend like the ball is dropping in Time Square for New Year's."

Completely shaking in their skin, the girls look to one another, letting their tears come out full force at the awareness and seriousness of them dying within the next minute or so.

"God, please!" Aria erratically cries out, choking on her words as she starts to hyperventilate.

" _God?_ " Wren scoffs with a hint of amusement in his voice, "Oh _nonono_. _Be not deceived! God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap._ " Wren quotes the popular bible quote with a chuckle, "Not even God can help you guys now. You reap what you sow, he said it himself."

Aria starts wheezing, inciting her panic attack as she grips the couch upholstery with her bare hands, digging her nails into the fabric. Spencer lays a rickety hand on Aria's lap, stammering out soothing shush to help steady her although she's losing it herself.

" _S-s-s-sh-sh-shhh, A-Aria_ …"

"I don't-I don't-I don't…" Aria hiccups her words which are feeling logged at the base of her throat. She turns her head to face Spencer with her mouth left open, trying to breathe, "I don't want to die, Spencer. " She looks at the brunette with every single thought of fear showing in her face, " _I really don't_...I-I have barely lived."

Spencer closes her eyes with tears still managing to escape as she reaches for Aria's hand, squeezing it tightly, "Me neither." She soft responds back with nothing but despair and regret in her voice.

Wren begins to laugh to himself, making all the girls look up at him. "I'm sorry," he waves the girls down as he collects himself, "I just find this is quite humorous because _each one of yo_ u have been close to someone who's been directly or indirectly associated with me." Wren starts to laugh a bit harder at the realization as the girls sit in confusion yet again for the night, not understanding what he was trying to say. "But, of course, I won't tell you who. Paranoia will do a hell of a lot better of a game then I would."

"You're a fucking coward." Hanna retaliates in the heat of the moment, still staring Wren down with the other girls' running down every person they've ever been involved with that might have been working with Wren, "That's all you are. A _fucking coward."_

"Such a fighter." Wren takes Hanna's insults with a grain of salt as he walks over to the table in the corner, grabbing a handful of chips, "I'm sure everyone is going to miss that about you… _10!_ " Wren starts off his slow, drawn out fatal countdown.

"You're _weak!_ _Pathetic!_ _A_ _literal piece of SHIT_ -"

As Hanna begins her last verbal assault on Wren during his slow countdown and Aria and Spencer having a moment, Emily turns her head to look to Alison sitting next to her. Returning the glance, Alison looks at Emily with her blue electric eyes tinted red, clouded with tears as she tried to keep her breathing under control.

"I'm so sorry, Alison." Emily coughs out with her whole body trembling. Her eyes sag downwards with her mascara and eyeliner smudged all around, "I'm _so sorry_ about _everything_. My blowups, our fights, the name-calling, the disrespect…You deserved _so much_ more from me. _So much_ _better_ than me-"

"I love you." Alison chokes out her words, cutting off Emily's apologies and catching her completely off-guard.

Hearing those words, the three words that Emily has been yearning to hear for so many years of her life, Emily gazes Alison in her eyes with her chin beginning to tremble, " _Don't_..." Emily whines with her voice breaking, "Don't say it because you feel like you have to-"

"Shut up and listen to me!" Alison cuts Emily off again with a slight aggression in her whisper as she closed her eyes, "Just…shut up…and _listen_ to me." Alison opens her eyes to see Emily's attention fully on her, her eyes roaming all over her face as she waits for Alison to speak again, "I. _love_. you, Emily."

Emily tries to smile but falls short into a trembling shudder, "I l-love you too, Ali." She nods her head as he reaches for Alison hand, raising it to her face to place against her cheeks, "I love you _so_ much."

"8!"

 _"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name…"_

With Hanna's attack rendering unsuccessful, she looks to her left to see Spencer holding Aria's hand whispering the Lord's Prayer softly to herself. She looks to the right of her and sees Emily and Alison crying with each other. Feeling the reality of hopelessness and terror as Wren continues his countdown, a single cry escapes her mouth as she hangs her head. Almost instantaneously, Spencer and Emily both reach for Hanna's hand in support through their last moments. " _Caleb_ …" She gently whispers as her eyesight becomes fuzzy. "He…he doesn't even know what's happening."

"6!"

"I love you guys." Emily leans forward to look at every girl sitting next to her on the couch.

"I love you guys too." Hanna looks on both side of her, firmly grasping Emily and Spencer's hand.

"5!"

"I'm sorry, guys." Alison weeps as she tries to make eye contact with everyone, "None of you deserved this."

"We love you, Alison." Spencer reassures the blonde with her head nodding, "It's okay."

"4!"

"Spencer, Hanna, Emily, Alison…" Aria whimpers out causing everyone to look at her, "I'm…I'm…" Aria pauses for a moment to collect her breathing, "I'm going to miss all of you... _so much_."

"3!"

Aria's final departing sentence makes all the girls to let out their last breath before they all try to hold each other tightly.

"2!" Wren counts down, standing in front of the girls with his thumb hovering over the button, watching the girls as they all shut their eyes, hoping the blast will be quick and painless. "1…Goodbye, my pretty little liars."

All the girls hold their breath as they squeeze each other's hands real tight for their last farewell.

Wren takes his last deep breath before pressing down on the button to denote the explosives.

…..

The barns sits extremely still as Wren looks at the remote puzzled. Thinking that there was some delay, he presses the button hard this time for an unsuccessful click. "What the hell-"

" _POLICE! SEARCH WARRANT! POLICE! SEARCH WARRANT!_ " Extremely loud and aggressive banging rips through the room from the front door causing everyone to open their eyes and instantly turn their heads behind them.

" _HELP!"_

" _IN HERE!"_

" _HELP US, PLEASE!"_

Within the next split second from the pounding, the door is forcibly kicked open with a flash grenade thrown in, producing a blinding flash of light and intensely loud noise bang with eight large men in SWAT gear running in through the smoke.

 _"GO! GO! GO!"_

 _"POLICE! GET ON THE GROUND!"_

 _"GET DOWN!"_

 _"EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!"_

With the loud screaming from multiple people, the girls immediately lunge off the couch and lay on the ground as they were told as Wren decides to make a run for it towards the back.

"HE'S RUNNING! HE'S RUNNING!" A man's voice booms alerting the other SWAT members.

Already covering all basis, three men come out from the back, one of them catching Wren with a swift and powerful tackle to the ground, forcing him to go through the wooden coffee table behind him.

"WE GOT HIM!" An officer yells out as the other officer holds Wren in place.

With their guns drawn, three of the original eight officers come from behind the couch and see all five girls on the floor face down. "UP! UP! COME WITH US!" Not wasting anytime, the girls rise of to their shaky legs and grab onto the officers as they quickly try to escort them out of the barn.

Hearing laughter behind them, Wren watches the girls leave with his face mushed to the ground. "Remember what I told you, girls! Paranoia is gonna be a bitch!"

" _SHUT THE FUCK UP!_ " The officer shoves his face harder against the broken wood, cutting his face.

All five girls turn their heads around to see Wren's face smashed through the wood with a fully geared officer kneeing him on his back, putting handcuffs on him. Still staring at him, the girls are grabbed and pushed out the barn as Wren spits out the dark red liquid from his mouth, showing off his blood-stained teeth as he glares at the girls leaving him behind, " _REMEMBER WHAT I TOLD YOU!_ "

… **..**

 **First of all, this had to be** _ **the hardest**_ **set of chapters I've ever written in my entire life. This could be up there with the hardest piece of literature I've ever written, including my university papers. Now, the reason it took me** _ **so long**_ **to update wasn't because I couldn't write it, I wrote it a day after I updated my last chapter. What was the delay was piecing everything together! I thought I had the basis covered and could just write everything but then I started finding small plot holes and it was just suuuper frustrating. So I had to stop writing and put together basically my own theory which was** _ **hell**_ **. Everyone needs to clap it up for people who put together theories of all lengths, small or long, frank or detailed. You guys are rockstars because it is** _ **not easy**_ **. With the fat plot holes already in the show, trying to get together a theory that had the least, made sense, and still had a form of a plot twist was a challenge.**

 **I just want to give credit where it's due and shout-out the people who I leaned on for research/ideas/and pieced what they learned along with my whole planning of a plot of "That Night"**

 _ **Tumblr Users:**_

 _ **PLLExplained**_

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 _ **kkthanks**_

 _ **QueenBeeMonaDilaurentis**_

 _ **Wikia Users:**_

 _ **TotallyWitchy**_

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 _ **Reddit Users:**_

 _ **ImAVeronica1**_

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 _ **emilyann1874**_

 _ **Facebook Users:**_

 _ **A-trouble Maker**_

 ** _& the personal_ _knowledge I've acquired being a Junior majoring in Psych._**

 _ **Always cite your resources, kids!**_

 **I really, really, reeeeally hope you guys aren't disappointed and burn me at the stake with my change of "Charles Reveal". Even if you hate the thought of Wren being A, I hope you could appreciate the work I put in because** _ **man**_ **. Every single theory has their plot holes but hopefully this one isn't unbearable.**

 _ ***Random reader's voice in the background***_ **"Why would you make Emily out to be the one who killed Bethany?! OF ALL PEOPLE?!"**

 _ **Because!**_ **I just felt one, those flashbacks definitely meant something. Especially if her and Spencer were the only ones to get them from that night. They could chalk it up to say she mixed her "nightmares" but when you're in a hypnotic state and you're trying to bring out suppressed memories, you don't remember your "dreams/nightmares", you remember things that actually happened. Plus! Tell me if PLL would have made Emily having something to do with something sinister that it wouldn't just** _ **blow**_ **our minds. I just wanted to take the least path taken and see what I could do with it.**

 **Just a quick breakdown of A/Charles' personality as to how I felt it would be. Now when the show first started, immediately I thought A was a female, even after Mona's reveal. But then as the seasons progressed, I started believing A was a male. (A in the suit and tie at the dollhouse was _not_ a female. It was _not_ Cece. That was _obviously a_ _guy.)_ In the beginning, I believe that Charles would be a socially awkward person with mental issues and hatred in his heart. But with Wren being so charismatic, it would be an odd mix that wouldn't really fix together. My ideology on it? Under different circumstances, people change. All the time. Being away for so long, I feel like Charles had to become this "** _ **character**_ **" so to speak. With all the connections and people he had to pull for help (whether they knew his agenda or were just mere souls that he had to use to get what he needed), he definitely had to have some kind of alluring personality so he could easily gain people's trust.**

 **When it comes to people who have severe obsessions, it could be seen as pleasurable, such as fantasies about romance, sex, or power. One may imagine how they'd like their relationship to be or how they want someone to act. A big discrepancy between fantasy and reality may reveal what we're missing in our life. As uncomfortable as an obsession can be, it keeps at bay underlying emotions, such as grief, loneliness, anger, emptiness, shame and fear.** **Charles has became obsessed with the girls and obsessed with everything that he has created in his mind. So, to have the real Alison is his obsession and his dream. His obsessive nature made to recreate his life with Alison and her friends being his friends to be sort of one big happy family.**

 **Some people would say that Charles is a psychopath, while he fits most of the behaviors based on what entails to be a psychopath, one of the characteristics is that you have to lack sympathy for others. You are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real** **empathy** **.**

 **Charles feels emotion. A lot of it. That's where most of his actions originates from.** **We've already established that anyone that does what Charles is crazy. Fact. That amount of time and dedication of hatred focused on a group of people could really change someone.**

 ** _*Lets out a long, deep breath*_ Risky chapter, I know, but with A taken in custody and no more taunting, we can get back to the matters at hands.**

 **Alison and Emily say their** _ **"I love you's"**_ **moments before they were supposed to be killed. Now that they are very much alive, did those words really hold weight or was it just said in the heat of the moment?**


	17. Chapter 17: Post-Traumatic Stress

***Wipes forehead with a hand towel***

 **I'm** _ **so**_ **relieved with the response from the Prom chapters. I was so nervous that it was going to be ripped to shreds, which is one of the reasons why I had it tamed a bit. However, to know that you guys enjoyed the reveal makes me feel a bit lighter :)**

 **After being captured and saved by the helps of Rosewood's trusty boyfriends, everyone is dealing with the aftermath of it all. Seeing Charles in the light for the first time and how much of an influence he has on the girls.**

CHAPTER #17: Post-Traumatic Stress

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

 **All five distressed prom-going girls sit on the steps of Spencer's back porch with blankets covering each one of them provided by the cops. With trembling accompanying the fact that were nearly seconds away from an explosive death, they watch the chaotic swarm that has turned Spencer's peaceful backyard into an frenzied crime scene. A Déjà vu moment to the neighborhood that just finished a similar scene yesterday. Not sitting alone, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna cling onto their respectful boyfriends as Alison and Emily sit on the far right corner, taking in the reality before them as Alison lays her head on Emily's shoulder. The slight sound of Alison's teeth clattering makes Emily internally grateful to be able to hear such a noise. Something to let her know that although they just went through hell, they were able to survive it.**

" **Alright. Well, let me know ASAP." Detective Tanner walks in front of the girls, tending to the other caller before she hangs up her phone and changes her sights onto the teens sitting on the porch steps. "We've tried to alert your parents with no prevail. We are sweeping the area just in case they are nearby." she tries to assure the girls. Normally at least one of the girls, mostly Hanna, would have something to say in response but what they just went through, their connection between the English language and speech is pretty much fried as they sit still, zombie-like in shock. Before Detective Tanner could give any words of compassion and comfort, a sudden extra noise was made behind her in the backyard making everyone look to see what was happening.**

 **Two men in heavy suited SWAT apparel walk a limping Wren out of the doors of the barn house. Just seeing his presence make the girls tense up as if he was going to do something to them although he was restrained. Getting closer towards the back porch, Wren was exchanged out of the hands of the SWAT members and into the custody of two Rosewood PD officers, Lorenzo and another older cop. Watching Wren's every move like it was the only thing their eyes willed them to see -getting closer and closer towards the side of Spencer's house to walk to the cruiser out front- Wren slowly cocks his head to look at the girls. Startlingly at the boldness of eye contact, each one of the girls along with the boyfriends hold his gaze and take in the aftermath of his appearance after his not-so friendly confrontation with the officers.**

 **The swollen bags surrounding his left eye held them shut with traces of him trying to force open with no success, Wren's face hosts a waterfall-like injury on the right side of his face that refuses to stop its blood flow. Looking like he went into a match with Brock Lesner and lost, a fairly large wound on his right cheek proves the potent weapon the wooded table demonstrated to be as his broken nose drips the dark red liquid down his busted mouth that he parts open to breathe through. He stares at the girls with a haunting gaze that'll forever be burned in their memory: an almost wide, sympathetic yet with a touch of almost mocking eyes as his lips tried to curl up into a smile.**

" **You're no longer the same.** _ **None of you**_ **." Wren grumbles through his faked English accent he shuffles in the girls' direction. The damaged and malicious snarl in his voice along with his amused and slightly disfigured face sends chills through the girls' body as his blood continues to travel down his face. "The distortions in the perception and interpretation of your reality is now** _ **fucked**_ **." Exaggerating his statement, he spits out some blood that was collecting in his mouth onto Spencer's green grass with offense. He seethed out with such hatred and malice in his tone and demeanor that overshadowed the vulnerability he showed them earlier. "Your minds….your brains…your thoughts…they all belong to me now. I will control every aspect of your life from this point on. You simply won't be able to escape me..." He wickedly began to laugh as he licked the blood dribbling onto his lips, internally frightening the girls with his glare piercing through them like daggers with poison laced at the end, "I** _ **OWN**_ **you now** _ **.**_ **"**

" _ **Motherfucker-**_ **" Lorenzo sends a loud whack to the back of Wren's head, causing the injured captive to stumble in the officer's arms from the blunt strike, "Shut your fucking mouth."**

 **Wren's visions blurs as he tries to withhold the immense amount of dizziness that has overwhelmed him. Lorenzo and the other officer forcibly continue to drag him, non-caring that he could not stand on his own two feet. "** _ **P-Police**_ **…" He mumbles out with his labored breathing, trying to talk as if that blow jumbled his ability to speak as well. "** _ **Police…bru-brutality.**_ **You can't…put your hands on me like that."**

" _ **Trust me**_ **, where you're going, you're going to have a lot of hands being put on you." the other officer sarcastically hisses in Wren's ear, tightening his grip on him, "** _ **Pretty boy with an accent?**_ **Yeah, the big guys up in Philly are gonna** _ **love**_ **your preppy, white ass."**

 **With Ezra, Toby, and Caleb sending death stares at Wren as they clutched onto their girlfriends tighter, Wren's manner changed once again when he caught Alison's eyes. Being pushed much faster now, Wren calls over his shoulder as he soon begins to leave the girl's sight. "Alison,** _ **baby girl**_ **." His voice softens as he stumbles in his steps, "Charlie loves you,** _ **okay?**_ **Charlie will always love you. Don't ever forget that. Everything I ever did was for you." Alison's tears begin up again with a kicked up amount of force as her chin trembled with mixed emotions. She instantly shoved her face into Emily's chest, shielding her eyes from seeing the sight of Charles. Emily holds onto her tightly as her face scrunches up in resentment at Wren hobbling away, "You're my favorite, Alison! You've always been!" He yells out, getting the attention of everyone in the backyard. "Don't forget about me, Ok! I lo-"Without being about to get out another word, Wren is forcibly shoved out of view of everyone as he is dragged towards the front of the house.**

Sitting on the porch steps of her house, the sun rays began to heat up Emily's skin as she sits outside alone. After Wren was arrested and taken into custody, the police soon after found the girl's parents. Apparently from a pep-talk gone wrong with alcohol being the coach, all four mothers went to confront Mr. DiLaurentis and ended up getting locked down in his basement with none of their cellphones or any kind of communication tool.

Like mothers, like daughters.

Or in this situation,

 _Like daughters, like mothers._

With her eyes squinted, looking out to the distance, Emily watches her assigned police officer sitting in his car who is watching her right back. No verbal or signal cues are made between them, just the silent looks as to say, "What are you thinking right now?" Emily aimlessly twirls her phone in her fingers as the eerily still neighborhood was filled with no kinds of sounds unless there was a car passing by. The brunette sits and replays last night's events at a constant repeat in her head as if it was a movie. Everything was so surreal.

Being held captive.

 **Before anyone else could breathe out an exclamation, Wren pulls out a 9mm strapped behind him and points it at the girls huddled around Emily. "** _ **GET UP**_ **," Wren's voice booms with commandment with the weapon in his grasp in one hand as he rub his side of his neck hosting his new wound. "GET UP AND SIT DOWN** _ **NOW**_ **."**

The countless threats.

 **Wren begins to laugh to himself, making all the girls look up at him. "I'm sorry," he waves the girls down as he collects himself, "I just find this is quite humorous because** _ **each one of yo**_ **u have been close to someone who's been directly or indirectly associated with me." Wren starts to laugh a bit harder at the realization as the girls sit in confusion yet again for the night, not understanding what he was trying to say. "But, of course, I won't tell you who. Paranoia will do a hell of a lot better of a game then I would."**

Feeling death's breathe against her ear.

 **"3!"**

 **Aria's final departing sentence makes all the girls to let out their last breath before they all try to hold each other tightly.**

 **"2!" Wren counts down, standing in front of the girls with his thumb hovering over the button, watching the girls as they all shut their eyes, hoping the blast will be quick and painless. "1…Goodbye, my pretty little liars."**

 **All the girls hold their breath as they squeeze each other's hands real tight for their last farewell.**

 **Wren takes his last deep breath before pressing down on the button to denote the explosives.**

The swarming of the police.

 **Within the next split second from the pounding, the door is forcibly kicked open with a flash grenade thrown in, producing a blinding flash of light and intensely loud noise bang with eight large men in SWAT gear running in through the smoke.**

 _ **"GO! GO! GO!"**_

 _ **"POLICE! GET ON THE GROUND!"**_

 _ **"GET DOWN!"**_

 _ **"EVERYONE ON THE GROUND!"**_

 **With the loud screaming from multiple people, the girls immediately lunge off the couch and lay on the ground as they were told as Wren decides to make a run for it towards the back.**

Wren's mutilated face.

 **All five girls turn their heads around to see Wren's face smashed through the wood with a fully geared officer kneeing him on his back, putting handcuffs on him.** **Still staring at him, the girls are grabbed and pushed out the barn as Wren spits out the dark red liquid from his mouth, showing off his blood-stained teeth as he glares at the girls leaving him behind,**

And Alison.

 **"I love you." Alison chokes out her words, cutting off Emily's apologies and catching her completely off-guard. "Shut up and listen to me!" Alison cuts Emily off again with a slight aggression in her whisper as she closed her eyes, "Just…shut up…and** _ **listen**_ **to me." Alison opens her eyes to see Emily's attention fully on her, her eyes roaming all over her face as she waits for Alison to speak again, "I.** _ **love**_ **. you, Emily."**

 _Alison…._

The sound of an engine pulling up to Emily's property disturbs her train of thought and catches her eye and the officer's on who it could it possibly be. The female driver turns her car off, hops out of her seat, and jogs towards Emily, making her put on a small smile as she stood up.

" _Emily!_ " The girl slammed her body into the brunette's for a hug. With the sudden and fast physical confrontation, Emily staggers a bit back with a wince, still not fully healed from the injury she had obtained the two days prior. "Oh shit. I'm so sorry."

 _Aubrey._

"Its fine," Emily breathes out in a croak with her voice still healing as she rubs her side, "I'm just a little sore, that's all."

" _My God, Emily_." Aubrey examines over Emily's slummed posture with wondering, sensitive eyes. Seeing the location of her pain, Aubrey's gently takes the end fabric of Emily's shirt and lifts it up slightly, just enough to see the medium sized bruise she was wearing. Instantly, Aubrey's face fell into distress, feeling as if it was some way her fault. "For the past three days I've been losing my mind thinking about you." Aubrey's eyes meet Emily's as she brings her shirt back down, "I was fighting every muscle inside me not to drive down here just because nobody really knows me and I didn't want to add more confusion to the mix."

"Don't worry about it," she gives a soft smile, however, her eyes indicated nothing of happiness but, instead, sorrow and hurt. She lowers herself again to sit on her porch steps with Aubrey following her lead besides her.

"I would have _never_ lived with herself if what happened last night _actually happened_. I can't live with myself knowing that you're hurt right now." Aubrey's voice drops softly, dripped in wretchedness as she put her hand on Emily's face, stroking her cheek lightly, " _Emily_ …" She whispers as they both look into each other's eyes, not caring so much that the police officer is probably getting his own daytime entertainment out of them two, "I care about you so much. I just want…I just want to protect you, baby." Aubrey leans in for a kiss right when Emily leans back to deflect it. Confused at what the problem was, Aubrey looks at Emily not understanding what she did wrong. After everything that has happened in the past few days and regrettably hearing Aubrey's words and the amount of sincerity behind it, Emily bows her head with a sigh. She reaches for Aubrey's hand on her face and she guides it into her hands in her lap.

"With everything that's been happening, I should have never dragged you along into this. I-"

"You're not, Emily. You're not." Aubrey eagerly jumps up to correct Emily, "I promise you you're not." The last thing she wants happen is that Emily feels like she's a burden on her which could have been farther than the truth. She knows that Emily's problems are more severe than normal but she has no problem with being there to support her. "I know we've only known each other for a short amount of time but Emily…" Aubrey scoots in closer to Emily, soothing her hands, as she tries to hold eye contact that Emily is lacking on her side, "I really like you. And that's in an overall sense. I like you as a person, your character, your smile, your humor and jokes, I like Emily. _I like you._ "

"You wouldn't if you knew _Emily_ …" The brunette mumbles under her breath as she looks at the concrete underneath her, half-hoping Aubrey didn't hear it but half-hoping she did. With the look of confusion Aubrey just gave her, she did hear it. Emily sighs, "I feel like with everything I'm about to say," She raises her head to look at Aubrey, wearing her concerns all over her face, "I hope we can still be friends." Without a word being uttered, Aubrey freezes in her skin with her eyes glued onto the brunette, not wanting to hear what she could possibly said but still giving Emily the floor to continue. "Ever since I was taken and held inside the underground bunker, I've been….I've became unhinged and have been trying to find myself ever since. The things that happened in the dollhouse and last night, they were all constant reminders of the past and what has happened. After a while, so much has came down in such a shit storm that I just lost who I was because I couldn't take things anymore. I was always tired. Emotionally and mentally just tired. Of everything and everyone. You say you like me but…."

"I get it." Aubrey encouragingly nods her head, "You've been through a lot, Em, and I know this. That's why I'm-"

"Aubrey, I can't give my all to you when more than half of me is with someone else."

With Emily's blunt choice of words, the air automatically stiffen between Emily and Aubrey as Aubrey feels like she was punched in the chest. Knowing what Aubrey could possibly be looking like after her statement, Emily continues to look away from her gazes which she can feel nearly burning her face. They sit in silence for what seems liked long, excoriating minutes before Aubrey cleared her throat.

"It's Alison, isn't it?" Surprised at her choice of words, Emily rose her head to see Aubrey looking at her with her head tilted up and her jaw clenched tight. Emily goes to say something in response but doesn't know how to even start to explain their history seeing that only a handful of people know about them. "I'm not stupid. Alison DiLaurentis is _the_ most popular teen in the entire east coast if not the country itself. Her face, her name, it's…. _unforgettable_. When I came over for the first time and she was here, I didn't say anything. I just played your game to see how long you were going to go for….but I would have never guessed you two had history." Aubrey stated with a little bit of hurt in her voice. Feeling now that the cat was out of the bag and it was now or never to lay out the truth, Emily was going to do it.

The whole truth.

Nothing but the truth.

So help her God.

"We do…have history."

"Do?" Aubrey perked up at the notice of the present tense word, "As in currently?" Emily keeps her eyes low, sitting as still as possible, not wanting to divulge because she knew it won't lead to a nice outcome, "Were you seeing her this whole time?" Aubrey continues to push.

 **Eyeing the living room table with a silver plate of four shot glasses, a small ice container and a glass of bourbon, Emily swiftly walks towards the beverage to get herself contented. "Absolute honesty?" Emily asks looking down as she twists the cap of the glass and pours herself a small amount of alcohol into her glass.**

Emily sucks in a deep breath, telling herself that in order for her to move on and change herself she has to tell the truth, "… _Yes._ " She slowly hisses out with her exhale.

Aubrey sharply yanks her hand back from Emily's lap, "When?"

Emily keeps her eyes and voice low out of shame and disappointment, "Before I met you I was involved with her. When I first met you we were still-"

"Were you guys sexual?"

 **Alison feels chills up her spine when Emily grips her hips, pulling her smooth, clothed body into hers as she run her tongue across Alison's top lip. Letting herself completely go, Emily places her forehead against Alison's, breathing together in unison as she walks her over to bed.**

"…. _Yes._ "

"When was the last time you two…?"

 **Emily breathed in and feel the heightened senses within her, the intensity of anger turning into arousal. She could almost taste the sultry aroma of flowers, anticipation, and sex.**

 **In that moment, the last barrier within Emily broke and she gave in to the darkness.**

 **Once again.**

 **She felt out of control. Out of control of controlling her temptations but very much of controlling how she wants Alison at that exact moment.**

Emily slowly breathes out with her words hanging on every exhale that left her body, "The night before I brought you over and then….right after I dropped you off."

Aubrey indignantly sighs as she moved her body from facing Emily to facing forward, "Are you fucking serious right now?" she runs her hands through her free falling hair before she bawled them up into fists.

"But when things started getting more serious, I wasn't involved with her anymore." Emily defended her case as she turned herself to face the clearly agitated brunette. She looks over her overall appearance and can already tell if she asks anymore questions, it's going to get worse. However, Emily has to set herself free and if it's by saying the ugly truth, then so be it.

"But you wanted to." Aubrey shoots her eyes back to Emily, nodding her head almost in affirmation as if she already knew the answer, "You wanted to, right?"

"Yes…"

" _Oh god._ " Aubrey chokes out disgustedly as she lifts her head to look up at the crystal blue skies that erases any trace of darkness and horror from last night, "I'm a fucking rebound." Simply not believing the situation, Aubrey says what she is out loud so she can actually come to grips at what she was to Emily this whole time. Someone she met and trusted ever so innocently thinking that she was different from the others. As someone who is skeptical of everyone, something about Emily at first glance brought her guards down. And now, she curses herself for doing so.

"Aubrey," Emily pleads, trying to make this as painless as possible as she places a hand on the distressed brunette's lap, "I really like you-"

" _Please!_ " Aubrey spits back, forcibly pushing Emily's hand off her lap. "I was someone that you invested your time in to make Alison jealous." The anger and betrayal in Aubrey's eyes, the emotions made her twinkling hazel eyes explode dim brown with resentment, makes Emily swallow down hard, never seeing this side to her before.

Emily tries to find her words but comes out instead in a mere hush, almost whisper " _Aubrey_ -"

"Don't sugarcoat it, Emily! _Yes or no!_ " Aubrey barks at Emily with her New York/Spanish accent combination coming out in full throttle as she stares Emily dead in her eyes, expecting an answer. Stuck in her heated gaze, Emily clenches her jaw as her mind ran rampant. Her main thing coming out of this conversation was that Aubrey would, if not somewhat, understand her plight and would take her up on the opportunity to be friends. Always seeing her in a happy, playful, and sympathetic mood, Emily would have never imagined Aubrey getting angry to the point a vein started showing itself on the side of her neck. This version of her is so foreign, almost unreal, seeing that she never heard the brunette raise her voice not once. However, being demanded an answer, Emily slowly nods her head.

"Not originally but….yes..."

Aubrey stares back at Emily, not opening her mouth to say anything. Emily can almost see the rage in her eyes melt to sadness as Aubrey presses her lips together and turn her face away, covering half of her mouth with her hand. In situations like these, Aubrey isn't the one to blow up when she's been told of an act of infidelity. She just figures that there is no point to yell and scream if that person had no respect for her to go out and mess around in the first place. Instead, she would just leave and never talk to that person again, however with Emily, she got herself too attached too quickly feeling that she needed to "take care" of her. And that's what causing her to feel the actual sting of betrayal. "You're just like the rest of them…" Aubrey whispers to herself but the words float up to Emily's ears, making her stomach churn at the comparison of her being like _others_. "I let you into my home, basically risked getting in trouble by bringing out of city limits just to allow you to _breathe_ , helped you during your episodes, _you_ ….you fucking _punched me_ in the face and almost broke my nose!" Aubrey turns back with Emily with softer, gloomy eyes, "Don't you understand the _severity_ of that? I bled all over my clothes and kitchen! If you were anyone else, I've would of killed you!"

"And I'm _so_ sorry for that. I'm so sorry." Emily feverishly shakes her head, having haunting flashbacks at the way Aubrey stared at her with wide eyes and her hand covering her nose. _God, the way the blood just seeped out of her fingers and onto the floor,_ Emily remembers. "You don't understand how much that weighs on me but, Aubrey, please listen to me-"

"So let me ask you this…" Aubrey collects herself, looking outward away from Emily's face as she feels the stinging in the back of her throat, knowing she's only a few more words away from having tears roll down her cheek. "When we shared a couple of… _intimate moments_ …were you thinking of her?" Aubrey looks out in front of her, waiting for an answer but is met with silence. Not wanting to even look at Emily's face with the possibility of guilt riddling all over her, Aubrey takes in a shaky breath as she lowers her head and looks at Emily with the tilt of her face, "….Were you, Emily?"

Emily looks down at her jeans, biting her tongue for her answer, "….Once or twice…"

" _Oh, Mierda!_ " Aubrey lets out a laugh as she looks back up at the sky, trying to prevent her tears from falling, showing weakness, " _Once or twice._ Well, dammit, you might have as well just put a fucking paper bag over my head and tape a fucking picture of Alison on the front!" Aubrey falters nearing the ending of her sentence with her voice cracking. The brunette closes her eyes, upset that she's letting Emily break her the way she is. With all kinds of guilt swarming around Emily's stomach, hearing the pain in Aubrey's voice kicks things up two more notches but she's determined to make things right between them.

"Aubrey, look at me." Emily pleads for what seems like the hundredth time. Aubrey shakes her head as she kept her face away from Emily, not baring to hear anymore. Frustration begins to quickly build inside the brunette and reaches out to grab Aubrey's face, forcing her in her direction, " _Look at me._ " A tear runs down Aubrey's cheek as she looks into Emily's eyes with her defenses weakened, "I like you. I really do and I don't want to lose you." Emily softly whispers with nothing but genuinely, truthful words leaving her lips, "That's why I wish-why I _want_ us to be friends. You're such a great person and I-"

"Pero tú no eres…" Aubrey mumbles, shaking her head still in Emily's grasp as she maintains eye contact, "No eres la buena persona que pensé que eras."

Emily squints her eyes as she looks at Aubrey's still face for a translation. Although, she had taken Spanish classes in the past, the way Aubrey's voice broke in and out, she couldn't make out all the words, therefore, not understanding her completely. "I didn't…I didn't quite understand what you just said but I want this to work."

"I said you're not a good person." Aubrey grits through her teeth and snaps out of Emily's grasp, wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. The realization of Aubrey's words actually stunned Emily enough to become speechless. She drops her hand to her side as she stares at the brunette with wide and shocked eyes. "Because if you were, you would have never gotten me involved knowing that I was strictly a play toy for you while you and Alison fought. I know you went through your hell and your struggles but….that is no reason for you to fuck with someone as an excuse just because you feel like it." Emily watches Aubrey raise to her feet, feeling so defeated and punched in the gut that she couldn't form the words to defend herself. "I can't even stand to look at you right now let alone be around you as a friend. If you could do that, _what else_ could you do to me?" Aubrey runs her hands through her hair as she looked off to the police officer who seemed to be well into the free show he's getting, "I hope your life gets better Emily, I _really_ do, but I…" Aubrey sighs as she rests her eyes on Emily who looks back at her like she was told one of the worse news of her life, "You really hurt me just now so no. I don't think I want to be friends with you." Giving her final sentiments, Aubrey turns on her heels and walks down Emily's driveway and into her car where she quickly got in and drove away.

Sitting there, being left on her porch for about three minutes, taking in everything that just happened, Emily slowly stands up and walks into her house, not really feeling like being outside or being watched by the police officer anymore.

"Hey, Em." Pam greets her daughter, strutting her way to the kitchen as Emily closed and locked the front door, "Who was that you were talking to on the porch?"

" _Nobody_ …" Emily responds with dejection and lack of feeling in her voice, as she trudged into the direction of her room, "Nobody at all…"

…..

Silence masks the room as the ticking of the wall clock becomes louder and louder with every second passing.

… _Tick…_

… _Tock…_

… _Tick…_

… _Tock…_

… _TICK..._

… _TOCK…_

… _TICK..._

… _TOCK…_

Emily despondently blinks as she sits slumped on a black leather chair, looking ahead of her at a café brown painted wall. Dr. Sullivan intently stares at the brunette like a spectator observing a piece of work from an unknown artist, trying to understand what the person was feeling at the time of the creation. What each stroke of paint meant? What the colors signified? What was the overall sense of everything used in their canvas?

The sound of Dr. Sullivan's pen making contact with her notepad faintly adds onto the monotone ticks, causing Emily to drift her eyes up to her, not breaking her body posture. After a few moments of writing notes about her patient, Dr. Sullivan clicks her pen and raises her head back towards the brunette only to find Emily gazing at her.

"….I'm not a bad person." Emily mutters lowly under her breath.

Dr. Sullivan tilts her head at the brunette as she sets her pen down, "You're not, Emily. What makes you say that?"

"I'm not a bad person," Emily repeats again in the same tone with her eyes drifting back down to her navy blue converses, rubbing her feet together awkwardly. "I make stupid choices but….I'm not bad person."

"Did someone say you were a bad person, Emily?" The psychiatrists asks softly and attentively, picking up on the first sign of submissive behavior ever since their sessions have started. With no verbally response, tears began to roll down Emily's face as she tried to stop them beforehand. She wipes underneath both eyes but, to no use, no matter how much she wiped, all it takes is a repeat of the voices in her head to create a constant downpour. Dr. Sullivan's heart tugs as she reaches next to her a box of Kleenex and passes it to the brunette, "Would you like to talk about it?"

Emily nods sulkily as she retrieves the box, pulls out a white tissue, and begins wiping her face, "Yes, please."

….

With the madness that has granted the week to be action packed with school dwindling down to its end, Emily sits quietly inside her living room as her parents walk in and out, talking among themselves. Thinking of so many things at once, the common dominator of everything was Alison. Ever since prom night, she has yet to get in contact with the blonde for several reasons. Mainly one of them being that she feels so lost within herself that the last thing she wants to do is bring herself to be grumpy and sulky around her. She has already witnessed the brunette in her angry and vengeful states, she doesn't want to become a mope in her presence as well. However, apart from Alison, there are a few other issues that sit extremely heavily on Emily's mind.

" **SHUT UP!" Wren lunges towards Emily. She shrieks out, turning her face the other way with her eyes slammed tight as Wren gets into her personal space, "You don't have** _ **any**_ **say anymore! What has been done is already done so** _ **shut…up!**_ **"**

" _ **No…**_ **" Emily softly cries to herself as she keeps her face as far away from Wren as she could, "I…I…"**

" **YOU KILLED BETHANY!"**

" _Emily._ "

Emily snaps out her flashback onto both her parents standing in front of her with concerned looks plastered onto their faces. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" Pam takes a seat next to her daughter as she puts a warm arm around her shoulder, bringing her closer in support.

"Yeah…I'm-I'm fine. What's going on?"

Wayne looks down at his wife, exchanging knowing looks before he rests his sunken eyes back onto his daughter, "With everything happening here. Your mother and I don't think this place is safe for you."

"But Wren…" Emily stops at the name disgustedly before she corrects herself, " _Charles_ is captured. Everything is all over now."

"Yeah but the way he's been talking at you girls, the police are certain that he isn't working alone and that probably one of his accomplices are still roaming the streets." Wayne kneels down to Emily's eye level as he puts a resting hand on her knee, soothing her in small circles, "We've made some calls to the school and everyone has agreed, not just you but for all of your friends, that it would okay if you left a little early."

"What…?" Emily looks in-between her parents confused as she tries to understand what they were trying to say.

"We're saying that we think it would be safer if you left town before summer starts." Pam explains more thoroughly as she softly caresses her daughter as if she was at the doctors and had to calm her down so they can stick the needle in her arm, "The school said it was alright and that they would send all your credentials in the mail."

"You can stay with your cousins in Texas until it is time for your summer trip with Nicole." Wayne adds onto the barer of bad news that hits Emily in all kinds of directions. Realizing that her parents were not suggesting her to leave but actually _telling her_ that she's going to leave just adds more madness to the pot in her head. Most teens in her situation would be elated with the news of leaving such a god-forsaken town but Emily is somewhat conflicted at the moment.

"Wh… _When?_ " Emily closes her eyes as she shakes her head, smoothing her dark hair back in distress, "When do I have to leave?"

" _Immediately_." Wayne's voice suddenly becomes more serious with the toned that he dropped to. Emily opens her eyes and stares at her father in a bit of shock at the timing, "You and Alison were attacked one night and then with no time wasted, was almost killed the next. We can't risk anymore time for something else to happen. You're leaving on a plane early tomorrow morning."

" _Tomorrow?!_ " Emily chokes on the words with her voice barely audible, hoping that her father was joking. However, looking at his face, nothing about the matter at hand was funny or to be joked about. Her eyes sit on the floor as she tried to understand what _tomorrow_ meant. Apart of her does want to leave but the other half can't leave Alison. Not after they just made up. No, she needs more time. "Can't we just-"

"We already purchased the ticket for you to be out before sunrise," her father cuts her off politely yet sternly as he reaches up for Emily's hand to rest in his, "It's still early in the day. You still have enough time to pack your things and to have your farewell with your friends but Emily…" Wayne brings Emily's hands put to his face and places on kiss on her fingers before he brought them to his chest, "this is urgent. This place is dangerous. For all five of you."

"I know but…it's just so quick." Emily's mouth curls up into pout as her eyes leave her father and drifts down to the ground. Her parents sit supportive with her as they continue to try to soothe her.

"We know, Emmy. _We know._ "

…

" **You were right." Emily slowly nods her head with her eyes sealed shut, "In our last meeting when you asked if I had ill feelings towards Alison….** _ **I did**_ **. And ironically enough, I became the same person I hated Alison to be."**

With her suitcase placed on top of her bed, Emily stares at her closet, not knowing how to even begin her packing. What to bring? How much to bring? What to do with herself?

" **What was the characteristics in Alison that you hated?" Dr. Sullivan questions as she kept her eyes trained on the subtle facial expressions and movements the brunette made.**

" **Manipulative….Insensitive….Liar….Bully, both verbally and emotionally…."**

" **And you became all of that? You became manipulative and a bully?"**

Emily lets out a shaky sigh as she bowed her face into her hands, trying to control her thoughts that are gaining volume with every minute passing by.

 **Feeling the sting of Emily's graze, without hesitation, Wren swings a powerful and authoritative slap to her face, forcing her to fall into the arms of her friends behind her.**

Numbness begins to trickle down Emily's limbs as she feels her mouth starting to become dry. She looks around the room, feeling like the walls are starting to close in on her. Her hands glides up to her neck and starts roughly stroking her skin as if she was trying to find some air to breathe.

 **Wren looks to Emily, using his tactic of singling each girl out, using their experience to make them understand where he's coming from, "Don't you see how** _ **sad**_ **that is, Emily? How that could really fuck up one's head?"**

 _You're fucked up, Emily._

The heat in Emily's body dissipates into chilled shudders with a sense of unreality starts setting in as in she's not herself, she's not on the same dimension as everyone else. Becoming extremely dizzy with her beginning to sway from side to side, unable to keep herself focused, the voices echoing within Emily's head start becoming more pestering and louder.

 _You're fucked._

 _You're a murderer, Emily._

She tries to push the thought outs, trying to quiet the noise but the lack of noise in her room feeds into the voices, giving them more power.

 _You killed Bethany._

 _You're fucked._

 _You killed Lyndon._

 _You're fucked._

 _You're the reason Maya is DEAD._

Emily leans off balance and stumbles into her dresser, stabbing her in the side right where her bruise was, causing her to let out a hiss in pain. The sudden bump rocks everything rested on top of the wood as she grasps her waist in a throbbing sting. Her vision begins to tunnel as her breathing changes to a quickened and panicked pace.

 _Maya is dead._

 _Bethany is dead._

 _Lyndon is dead._

 _IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT._

" _No_ …" Emily softly responds to the voices as she attempts to stand up straight, pushing herself off her dresser. The sudden lightheadedness and lack of vision that seems to darken quicker than deemed usual, Emily staggers in the direction of her bed in hopes to lay down to gain control of herself.

 _You're a killer!_

 _All their blood is on your hands, Emily._

 _KILLER._

The brunette almost trips over her feet as she frantically pushes her empty suitcase off her bed and throws herself onto the mattress on her back. Looking up at the ceiling with her chest heaving heavily, she remembers the breathing technique Dr. Sullivan showed her earlier for overwhelming times like so.

" **Okay, take a** _ **long and slow**_ **breath in through your nose like this, filling your lower lungs, then your upper lungs."** The doctor's calming and soft voice enters Emily's head, instructing her as her speech quiets all the other background noises, **"Hold your breath to the count of three.**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

" **Then exhale slowly through pursed lips, while you relax the muscles in your face, jaw, shoulders, and stomach.**

 _Exhale._

" **Do that as many times as you need until you feel yourself relaxing and becoming calm again."**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

 _Inhale-_

 _ **"Please tell me, Emily. Why is it that every girl you've touched has fled from you?"**_

Alison's voice creeps into Emily's head, racking her off course of her breathing regime. Still refusing to loose complete control her breathing, she pushes out the intrusive thoughts as she continued on.

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **I don't think I want to be friends with you."**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **You're not a good person."**

 _Inhale._

 _One-_

" **You could come with me."** A soft spoken voice inches steadily in-between Emily's ears among the taunting of Aubrey's words. Using all her willpower, she tightens her eyes closed to no prevail of the repeating of Maya's innocent voice like a broken record. **"You could come with me."**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **I've got friends in San Francisco. You could come with me."**

" _Stop_." the words quietly scrape through Emily's gritted teeth as she starts to become aware of her heart and how it's thumping against her skin. With her hands trembling at her sides, she mentally tells herself to push through. To push through the confusion. To push through the all the noise.

" **I'm tired of fighting…"** Paige's voice cracking takes front stage, overpowering Aubrey and Maya still echoing in the background, **"I've used so much energy fighting and being afraid…I'm worried I'm not going to have anything left to just live."** Maya's voice lowers to a mere hush as it mixes with the rumble of Aubrey and Paige's gentle crying.

 _Inhale._

" **You're not a good person."**

 _One-_

 _Exhale_

" **Come with me."**

 _Inhale._

 _One-_

 _Exhale_

"Stop it." A hot tear escapes Emily's closed tight eyes as she tried to bring herself to a happy place. Whenever she would watch shows or movies, people who were overwhelmed were always told to "go to their happy place". As she continued to breathe, she imagined herself leaning forward at the edge of a poolside, peering into the beautiful blue waters underneath her. With her clothes and all, she lunges forward, dipping her body ever so gracefully as she separates the waters with her paired hands. Once submerged, feeling the warm water cover her completely, she wiggles her body like a dolphin, traveling through at such a fast speed to nowhere in particular. With her environment seeming to be never ending, for a moment, all the voices became silent. The thumping of her heart and gradual breathing were the only sounds she's becoming aware of. Being in a place that she's always loved the most, a place where all her worries, her fears, her terrors melted off her like butter.

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **Your mind…."**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **Your brain…"**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **Your thoughts…"**

 _Inhale._

 _One…Two…Three…_

 _Exhale._

" **They all belong to** _ **me**_ **now. I will control every aspect of your life from this point on! You simply won't be able to escape me!"**

"You can't control me." Emily fights back with against the mental tormenting as she continues to imagine herself gliding effortlessly through her crystal blue waters. " _You can't control me."_

 _Emmy…._ The voice taunts in a sing-songy, childlike tone.

 _Emily…._

" _EMILY!"_ Booming with such great volume, the voice completely disrupts and rips Emily's imagination of her swimming to Wren's disfigured face staring at her with a haunting and eerie wide smile in the middle of complete darkness. If listened carefully, the faint sound of his breathing comes out in small wheezes, resulting from his confrontation, he begins to laugh in such a jeering and chilling way that he transforms into Emily's own personal joker."LOOK AT ME, EMILY." Wren extends his arms outward with his left eye still swollen, nose broken, and same overall face that she saw last night, his smile and brown eyes pierces through Emily's soul as she was held prisoner inside his glare, "I FUCKING OWN YOU."

" _Leave me alone!_ " Emily screams out at Wren as loud as her healing throat could handle, " _Get out!_ " Wren's echoing laughter begins to overshadow Emily's scream which only makes her yell even harder, " _GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!_ " The brunette's door ricochets off her wall as Wayne and Pam bursts inside her room, stumbling in to see the terrifying sight of Emily sitting up in her bed, shouting with her eyes closed tightly and her hands slammed against her ears as she uncontrollably screams over her choppy and distraught crying. " _LEAVE ME ALONE!"_

" _Emily!"_ Wayne jumps onto Emily's bed and grabs onto her hands. Still stuck in her head, her vision perceives Wren lunging for her which makes her fight him back, hitting him wherever she could with all the force and energy she had left in her body. _"Emily!"_ Wayne tries to deflect the rapid assault from her daughter, protecting his face making sure he doesn't get caught by her avid swinging, "Emily, _it's me!_ Your father! Listen to my voice!"

Snapping out her warped reality, Emily's wrists are forcibly grasped in a tight hold, preventing her to move her arms just as she realize that it was her father sitting in front of her and not Wren. Her loud and hysterical breathing surrounds the room as her mother watches on horrified, clutching onto her chest to the scene she had witnessed. Emily blinks frantically, staring at her dad who gulps down in dread and exhaustion. Being in the military, in and out of battle for many years, he is very familiar with PTSD among soldiers, especially his own. However, seeing his daughter go through an episode that mimicked ones that he used to watch his fellow comrades go through scared him. Scared him deeply within knowing that Charles has damaged his baby girl.

 _ **Yikes.**_

 **One reviewer last chapter hit it pretty spot on with post-traumatic effects. "I feel like there is more to it than what Charles told them. They say sometimes the mind cannot tell the difference between fantasy and reality."**

 **When Wren said that he will control every aspect of the girls' lives, one could say that he was talking in the sense of fear rather than** _ **him.**_ **And he is right. You have absolutely no control over anything. Your body, your feelings, your thoughts, your judgment, your dreams, and essentially your will all take on a life of its own without any feedback from the logical part of your brain.**

 _ **It's just like being on autopilot.**_

 **With PTSD, every single aspect of your life is now wired into survival mode and will always react that way without giving you a chance to think about it. Knowing the difference between right and wrong is temporarily shut down while you're reacting.**

 **And not only that, however, your senses also tend to take a turn. Auditory and visual hallucinations also have frequently been reported with the symptoms of the disorder. Hearing and seeing things that aren't there, I mean, it's truly a terrifying experience for one to go through at any age.**

 **And as a military child, myself, I can fully attest to that.**

 **Chapter Translations:**

" _ **Oh, Mierda*!**_ **" Aubrey lets out a laugh as she looks back up at the sky = "** _ **Oh, shit!**_ **"**

" **Pero tú no eres…" Aubrey mumbles, shaking her head still in Emily's grasp as she maintains eye contact, "No eres la buena persona que pensé que eras." = "But you're not…"/ "You're not the good person I thought you were."**

 **Conversely, switching gears for a second….how about 6B?**

 **Personally, a lot of things rubbed me wrong about what's going to happen on the other half of season 6.**

 **-SPOILERS-**

 **-DON'T READ BECAUSE OF SPOILERS-**

 **-ALRIGHT, YOU'RE READING ANYWAY-**

 **The fact that Emily's dad dies just really blows me away.**

 **Also, the girls in the five year jump are living** _ **such unrealistic**_ **lives that it's laughable.**

 **In the words of Norman Buckley:** _ **Dream logic.**_ **Gotta love it.**

 **The only "realistic" thing that has happened is Emily dropping out and being a bartender. Also, now that I think about it, Alison marrying a doctor isn't** _ **totally**_ **unrealistic. Because** _ **ehhh…**_ **it actually happens. Not at all often but it happens.**

 **As for** _ **this**_ **story's time-jump -yes, there is a time jump, mlfleishman:) - I'm going to be following the guideline of 6b** _ **just a tad**_ **but I'm going to be switching just about everything up. The occupations, the timing, the situations, and of course Charles' storyline.**

 **But through it all, the feeling of endgame Emison and their feelings towards each other in the midst of everything will just** _ ***clutches chest***_ **will make you feel.**


	18. Chapter 18: Stop & Stare

**Anythign: Emily's secret can be just about anything and it's really hard to pinpoint what it could be. I was thinking maybe she had a breakdown and was admitted to a psych ward but that's not "biggest secret of all" material seeing that Spencer went through that already. Then you have pregnant Emily theories which I've been going back and forth on. That _would_ rock people if Emily had a kid (like in the books) but Emily is clearly gay. She confirmed this when she kissed Nate/Lyndon. But I have _nooo_ idea. Maybe with the news she got over the time jump, she spiraled into a dark place where she did dark things? Will I incorporate her secret into this story? Most likely not because I don't know what it is lmao. And knowing PLL, we won't find out until way later.**

 **However, as I stated earlier, a lot of things that's happening in PLL's time-jump will be different from this time-jump. For example, Alison is _not_ going to be a teacher and she will _not_ continue residing in Rosewood. That's just ludicrous. If I was any of the girls, or _anyone_ living there for that matter, I would be running for the hills. Psychos are walking the streets, pedophiles are just coming out of the woodworks, people are being kidnapped, buried, and killed, and the police are stale donuts with a plastic badge?**

 ** _Nope._ I'm out of there faster than a toupee in a hurricane.**

 **Now, I personally feel that Ms. DiLaurentis has shed her "bad girl" ways and would probably want to give back to the community in her mature years (as so many adults who had a troubled youth do), however, I just never saw it to be teaching a high school English course. But just out of curiosity, to see how you guys think, what career do you imagine Alison in after college? Emily as well? Definitely give your opinion in the review because I'm interested to know if we're all thinking along the same lines.**

CHAPTER #18: Stop & Stare

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Telling Hanna, Spencer, and Aria her sudden news, Emily spends her entire afternoon and evening with them one last time, knowing she won't see them again for as long as a few years when college starts. However, as normal as they tried to be, reminiscing about the "old, good times", half of their high school experience was painfully riddled with deceit, stalking, and murders; not so much discussion material. So, most of their recollections stemmed from older, less agonizing memories. Of course, the person who is always seeming to be the one missing is Alison. Unfortunately, due to everything, Alison was strictly house-bounded, not even allowed to do the simple task of sitting on her front porch for fresh air. Emily wanted Alison to hang out with them but at the same time, she wanted to be alone with her. From word spreading incredibly quickly –or Hanna's fingers flying over her keyboard after Emily told her- Alison found out about Emily unexpected move and waited for her to come over, knowing that she couldn't leave the state without saying goodbye to her. Emily, on the other hand, was in no rush. Actually, a part of her was nervous to see Alison so she took her time until she was ready.

…

Sitting in her car with the engine off, Emily takes a deep breath as she tightly grips the leather of her steering wheel. The eerie stillness of the night consumes her, leaving the brunette motionless in her seat. A sudden flash of light catches the corner of Emily's eye, causing her to turn her head in the direction of Alison's porch as a small figure emerges from the darkness of the house. Emily takes another deep breath and reaches for her shades clipped to her sun visor. She slowly gets out the car as Alison leaves her porch and approaches Emily in the middle of her driveway with a patrol car placed quietly down the sidewalk.

" _Hey_..." Alison crosses her arms as she approaches the brunette, taking in Emily's dejected appearance. "Why are you wearing sunglasses if it's pitch black out here?" She lets out a forced, wry chuckle but her smile goes away as quick as it came when she realized that Emily's face had no trace of happiness or laughter. She awkward shifts her body as she changes to a different demeanor, "Come on, inside. There's no need being out here." Alison turns around to face her house and takes a few steps but hesitates to walk any farther upon noticing that Emily was not following behind.

"...I came to say goodbye." The words carefully leave Emily's mouth in a calm and low tone with her jittery hands shoved inside the tight steams of her jean pockets, hiding her weakness, "My flight leaves in four hours and...I've came to say goodbye..."

Alison shakes her head in disbelief of what she's hearing as she turns back to fully face Emily, "You came to say goodbye? W-what do you mean you came to say goodbye?" Alison's mouth hangs as she searches for an answer but is blocked by Emily's shades, "You haven't seen me, called me, or text me all day knowing you had to leave and when you finally do show up it's at fucking 2 in the morning? Four hours before your board your plane?" Emily shamefully bows her head, not having anything to say in a rebuttal. She knows it was wrong, _extremely wrong_ , to keep Alison waiting but she couldn't bare the fact of what has happened between them: The pain she's caused Alison in recent times due to her selfishness. Talking out her feelings to Dr. Sullivan, she couldn't put in any more than what was needed. And right now, this is all that is needed. A simple goodbye to keep things from getting even more complicated. However, Alison won't accept the bare minimal. She will not accept a simple goodbye, "Emily, come inside."

"I can't." Emily whispers, regrettably shaking her head with her head still hanging.

Alison sighs out in defeat, "Emily, I'm not doing this." seeing that Emily was yet again going to turn a plain situation difficult, she refused to allow her to do it at this point in time, _"Get inside, now._ "

"I can't walk in that house, Ali." Emily responds as she tries to keep herself together. "I thought I could but….so many things has happened in there." As a pathetic of an excuse it sounds, Emily stands at a battle within herself. With her day being a day of remembrance of both good and bad things, Emily can't help but to remember all their interaction shared at the blonde's house. From the disrespect, to the curse outs, kick outs, and rushed sexual encounters, Emily feels nothing but guilt and doesn't want to be reminded of her low points when she walks inside, "So many times I've hurt you, I-" the brunette slowly lifts her head to look at Alison through the dark tint of her shades, "I-I can't walk in there..."

" _No_." Alison stubbornly defies as her voice starts to shake, "You're not going to stand here, tell me you're leaving and then just disappear." She walks up to Emily and grabs her right arm, pulling her in the direction of her house, "Come on, _let's go._ " Putting all her weight to make her body heavier, Emily barely budges as Alison tries with all her might to move her. Realizing that she fighting against a reluctant defendant, Alison's emotions begin to coincide with a mixture between anger and sadness as she tugs on Emily even harder. "Emily, come on!"

"Alison, I-"

" _No!_ " Alison releases Emily's arm and shoves her instead. Emily takes the push with a small stagger back, knowing she deserves it, " _No._ " Alison steps closer and pushes her again with all her strength thrusted into both hands, "You won't do this to me. After everything we've been through, you're _not_ going to do this to me." The blonde huffs out as the tears disorient her sight and her throat begins to constrict, "You are not going to come here and tell me goodbye four hours before you have to leave. _Four fucking hours_ before I never see you again." Alison words tumble out of her mouth as angrily stares into Emily's sunglasses, unable to see through them to get to the real her. Letting out a long sigh, Alison stops and briefly pulls herself together before she glances back up at the brunette. "Emily Fields," She demands in a serious voice, "Lets. Go."

"No, Alison." Emily spits out causing Alison to tilt her head at her with wide eyes, " _I. have. to. go._ " She enunciates every word with irritated emphasis.

Surpassing the brunette's irritation, becoming highly annoyed, Alison angrily stomps up to Emily who takes a few steps back and fumbles to rip off the shades off her face. "Tell me." Alison grabs Emily's lower face with her right hand, shaking her shades in her left hand, "Tell me without these fucking glasses on. Look me in my eyes and tell me you have to go. Tell me that you're going to leave me with just a fucking goodbye." Alison furiously darts her eyes back and forth to read Emily's but Emily lowers her droopy red eyes away from Alison's burning gazes. Alison tightens her grip as she shakes Emily's face back to eye-level, " _Tell me!_ "

"Alison, _please_ -" Several tears that have been waiting to fall drop onto Alison's fingers as Emily grabs for Alison's hand, choking out her words. "I can't go in there."

" _Why not?!_ "

"Because I'm losing myself." Emily shakily whispers as she finally makes eye contact with Alison for the first time without the shades blocking each other's view. "The flashbacks, the voices, the intrusive thoughts," Emily squeezes onto Alison's hand as she begs her with her eyes, " _Please_...I don't want to hurt you anymore."

"You won't!" Alison lets go of Emily's face and cups it instead, bringing her closer. "You're-you're not." She strokes away Emily's tears with her thumbs as she continued to hold her gaze, "Let me help you."

Emily bows her face into Alison's hands and she began to softly cry. Watching her come undone hopelessly front of her, Alison tries her hardest to hold back her tears as she places a kiss on Emily's forehead. The overwhelming feeling that suddenly took over her as she told herself beforehand not to cry, Emily wraps her arms around Alison's waist, hugging tightly, letting herself become completely vulnerable in Alison's arms. "They won't stop, Alison." Emily sobs into Alison's chest with her body starting to shiver in the blonde's hold, "The images…th-the noise…it won't _stop_." Before Alison could say anything back, Emily breaks down entirely and slides down Alison's body, dropping to her knees as Alison falls down with her, not letting out of her hold, "I can't-I can't do this anymore…" Emily stutters through her cries as Alison's heart breaks more and more with every passing second.

" _Emily..._ " Alison whispers, her tears start to run down as well as she places her forehead against Emily's, " _Please_ ," she whispers ever so lightly, "Please, come inside with me."

Emily shakes her head against Alison's which causes the blonde to sigh out in disappointment, "You deserve more than me-"

" _Stop_. I deserve you." Alison lightly shakes Emily, "I _want_ you." Since yesterday, Emily has been repeating how much she's underneath Alison and how she deserves someone better but Alison wishes that she could just understand that after everything they've went through, she wants _her._ Through their fighting, their back and forth, and their time away from each other, the whole time Alison was missing her. She hated how they've became and had hoped that there was some silver-ling, one trace of a sunray through the storm to prove that they can get through it. Although, the façade had to come on thick, Alison didn't want to perceive herself as willing when Emily came crawling back. She wanted to see if Emily was going to fight for her. Sliding her hands up Emily's face, the blonde leans in and kisses her softly. Not overly sensual or deepened but just enough action to match her words. Pulling back, looking into Emily's eye as Emily stares back through her tears, Alison whispers, stroking her face. "Come inside."

….

Walking into the all too familiar room that will possibly be the last time she sees it, Emily slowly steps inside the darkness in hand with the tea Alison made for her. As the blonde follows behind, a subtle click sound was made with the closing and locking her door.

"Thank you," Emily raises the mug with a head nod in Alison's direction, "For the tea. You always knew how to make it just right." Alison gives a soft smile to the brunette as she hugs herself, observing her eyes over the delicate Emily drinking the tea in her presence. Hearing Emily tell her that she's internally battling with herself surprised Alison to say the least. She knew that they all had some form of post-traumatic stress and nightmares but she would have never guessed that it was so overwhelming that it would bring Emily to her knees both figurative and literally.

Standing in the quiet and dark room with no movement being made, Emily takes another sip of her tea as her eyes float towards Alison's window, checking out the lonely and still street with a patrol car parked next to the sidewalk to keep an eye on the house. Faintly, the sound of the tips of Emily's fingers tapping against the porcelain glass in her hands create a monotone, rhythmic drum like a ticking clock.

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

Alison stares at the brunette standing in front of her window like a vigilante watching over their city, feeling the tension rolling off her back and saturating the room with every tap to her cup as no words were being spoken from either girls.

Only silence and tapping.

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

 _Tap._

Emily's eyes scan every inch of Alison's street, from her yard to the neighbors' yard to the end of the road where the streetlights doesn't hit, creating enough shadows for someone to hide in. The brunette narrows her eyes to the shadows, just waiting for some kind of movement. For something that doesn't belong. For a rushed jog of out sight into the bushes. For a silhouette of someone standing motionlessly out of place. Waiting to see Charles miraculously escape custody, walk into the streetlight with his evil grin, intently staring up at her through Alison's window. Seeing the image of him replays in her mind so frequently that her heart begins to race, almost as if she's bracing herself to see him. Suddenly, Emily feels a hand on her arm and jumps out of her skin, almost dropping her cup and spilling the tea everywhere.

"I'm sorry…." Alison quietly apologizes as Emily tries to catch her breath, breathing so hard you would have thought she came from a jog. Alison rubs her hand soothingly on the brunette's arm through her grey flannel top as she feels the faint shiver from her body at the surprise of her touch. Although briefly scared, Emily continues to glance out the window, just in case the scenery has changed from the last five seconds she's checked. Alison slides her hand down Emily's arm to her hands cradling the cup and gently tries to peel the mug out of her grasp. It is only then when Emily realized she has gripping the cup so tightly that Alison couldn't simply just take it out of her hands. After physically relaxing herself, she softly sighs and releases, allowing Alison to take the mug and place it on her dresser top. When the blonde turned back around, her eyes instantly found Emily's. All of the emotion behind the brunette's brown eyes and her aura was so powerful that it froze her right in place, not daring to move or talk but to stare at her right back. Following the similar look they shared in her room the afternoon of prom, this one had a darker twist than before. The ambience of grey around Emily became so thick that it became a mist that wouldn't disperse. The look in her eyes were so lonesome. The dull glint had that revealed a world of darkness as if she knew she was hanging on her last thread. Almost like when you go to an animal shelter and you see that one dog that doesn't get excited like the other ones. They're not waging their tail, barking or jumping up and down, they're just lying in their newspaper bed, watching you walk past them with sunken eyes. Sunken eyes that tell you that they're at the end of their rope and have nothing to lose. They don't have anyone to love them or anyone to touch them for that matter. And with those eyes, you just want to rip them out of the cage and take them home to show them a good life. Alison carefully raises both of her hands, grasping the brunette's face with her fingers cradling the back of her neck as she takes a step to stand face to face. They gazed at each other for a few moments, both were silent but holding all their passion from their body language and eyes. There was a kind of tension in the air that was inexplicable to them. They had done this -staring at each other when words have failed- a million times over, however, it has never even came close to where they stood at that moment. Alison's eyes flicker down to Emily's pouty lips for a brief second before going back up to her eyes. Not saying anything, Alison gently pulls Emily into her and presses her lips against the brunette's innocently, lingering their kiss without being too sexual without Emily's permission. However, not getting the interest she thought she would get from Emily's side, Alison pulls back to search her for a moment before Emily leans into Alison to kiss her again. Both silently agreeing to take it to the level they're on, feeling Emily slowly kiss her back causes the blonde's body to tingle as Emily's soft lips pressed against hers with slow closed mouth pecks. Only taking a few more seconds into their shared moment, Emily desperately holds onto Alison's hips, gripping her as close as physically possible with the need of her body against hers. This kiss was different from all their latest kiss. Those moments were filled with aggression, lust, and impulse whereas this one was sitting on the other end of the spectrum with desperation, mutual desire, and compassion. Their kisses deepen as Alison parts her mouth open slightly with Emily gliding her tongue across the blonde's soft bottom lip, having a surge of a need of Alison's touch. Almost hesitating to slide her tongue into Alison's mouth, feeling the blonde push against her, Emily loses herself and all of her fears when Alison goes ahead and slips her tongue in to glide against the tip of Emily's as if she heard her plight and decided to make the first move. Upon contact, hearing the blonde let out a small moan into Emily's mouth was like hitting the small silver ball in a pinball machine, spiking the sensual sensation throughout Emily's body from her fingers gripping Alison's hips to her knees that feel like she was going to give way to over heightened sensitivity.

Alison pulls away from Emily unexpectedly causing Emily to lean in with her lips still pursed anticipating their next contact. The brunette looks onto her with pained eyes muddled with confusion as she silently wonders why Alison stopped so abruptly. Still with no words being exchanged and the room being soundless so late into the night, Alison's hands tenderly glide down to the middle set of buttons on Emily's plaid flannel, glancing up at her almost waiting for an approval to do what she wanted to do. Gazing into Alison twinkling yet penetrating blue eyes, Emily's breathing slowed as she was held in captivity by Alison's persisting expression of wanting to undress her. Not breaking their drawn out, stagnant yet reassuring silence between them, Emily's lets her eyes descend down to where Alison's hands were resting, wordlessly giving her the okay. She watches the blonde's small hands climb up to her first set of buttons, slowly undoing them, putting her in almost a trance like state with her mouth parted open slightly. Witnessing her pull apart two buttons, her gaze is raised back to eye-level as Alison lifts her chin up with flick of her hand, wanting Emily to look at her throughout this intimate process. Feeling Alison taking her time undressing her with every button being pulled apart allowing air to skim across her exposed skin, Emily holds her eye-contact with her, feeling the intensity growing with every passing second. She feels herself shrinking under the blonde's gaze, experiencing a sense of vulnerability from the mixture of the silence, stares, and disrobing. For a split second, Emily almost leans down to kiss Alison but holds herself strong as she fights the urges to ruin the moment they're warped into.

Alison's fingers seamlessly work over Emily's buttons as she peered into the big, expressive eyes that sagged on Emily's beautiful face. Her eyes were so desolate and anchored onto the pieces of life that were not shattered and broken. And yet when Alison looked straight into her, getting past the big void that houses her brown eyes, she felt somehow pulled by an indefinite force, seeing a sad and pleading soul on the wall behind it. Finishing her task, Alison drops her gaze and looks at the unfasten top, exposing the brunette's bare skin and bra she held underneath. She takes her hands and slowly parts open the button up, showing off her tan, toned body that she felt like she hasn't seen in ages. However, through the darkness, her eyes catches the bruise on the lower right side of her stomach. The bruise was an assortment of red, purple, and blue hues, colors that did not belong on someone's skin. The garish splotch, roughly the size of a fist, made Alison close her eyes and hang her head in shame. From holding Alison's gaze to watching her bow her head, Emily stares down at her dazedly not knowing how to react. She knew that Alison had possibly spotted her discoloration and felt bad for it, almost ashamed that her imperfection probably turned her off into threw her sympathy mode. Just as Emily went to reach for her, Alison slid down her body until she was practically on her knees with her face being directly in front of Emily's stomach. Emily stood frozen, barely daring to breathe as she watched Alison rub her hands together before she hesitantly placed them onto Emily's warm skin, grazing the tips of her fingers ever so gently over her bruise. Still tender and sore to the touch, Emily quietly winces under her breath as the blonde rested her fingers around her injury. Alison takes in the moment of softly examining over the blemish before she leaned in a placed a tender kiss on it.

" _I'm sorry…"_ Alison's barely audible voice buzzes on Emily's skin as she continued to kiss her bruise, mumbling her apologizes over and over with every kiss she left. " _I'm so sorry…_ "

Feeling the vibrations, the gentle pressure of her lips, and the subtle but noticeable strokes on her skin makes Emily flicker her eyelids close and lean her head back just as her eyes began to roll backwards. "It's…" Emily tries to speak but comes out too garbled and soft to be heard at her point of weakness, "It's okay…"

With Alison not letting up, now expanding her kissing and caresses to other parts of her abdomen, a small whimper escapes Emily's lips as she feels the overwhelming sense of her legs failing her to the point of stumbling backwards. She carefully rests her left hand on top of Alison's head, lightly stroking her blonde, luscious hair as that's the only thing she could manage herself to do. With such heightened sensitivity of Emily's body at her current state, it doesn't take much sensual contact for her to be worked up. At this point, all Alison would have to do is flash a glance up in Emily's direction, showcasing her blue eyes as she continued to kiss her stomach and she would probably orgasm right where she stood. Feebly opening one eye at a time as if she was waking up, she glances back down at Alison who switches up her approach and begins to accompany her kisses with a few slow and elaborate licks around her navel that makes Emily's brain go into an overdrive system error mode.

Alison feels Emily's fingers begin to dig deeper, tangling within her hair strands as she hears the labored breathing coming from above. She can literally feel the brunette's stress leave her by the droves with every touch she connects. Scaling her eyes down to Emily's waistband, she sees her black, leather belt that's currently keeping two things from happening: Emily's jeans from falling off and allowing them to get to the next level in their adventure together. The blonde purposely drags her nails down Emily's warmed up skin to the buckle of her belt, undoing it with more drive and alacrity than she spent with Emily's top. After a few seconds, Alison rises to her feet and rips Emily's leather out of her jeans' belt loop with one commanding yank as she goes straight back to the brunette's mouth. This time, Emily's consumes Alison's lips with hers in one fluid motion, showing more hunger and longing than she did minutes prior. Alison matches Emily's desire almost immediately as Emily cups her face, snaking her tongue deep enough into the blonde's mouth that she moans out of pure ecstasy and drops her belt to the floor. Knowing where they were located with the dark room, Alison carefully pushes Emily into the direction she wanted her to go in, guiding her movement as Emily feverishly sucked on her bottom lip, not minding that they were moving. It wasn't long before the back of Emily's legs were greeted with a small thump from Alison's bed. Holding her tight, Emily falls backwards onto Alison's soft and bouncy mattress with Alison laying on top of her, continuing to swirl their tongues in a rhythm that coincides with the faint moaning coming from both of them. Preoccupied the wild and consuming thoughts that flooded Emily's mind and the task to keep up their intense make out, Emily tries to kick off her shoes with the help of her own feet, knowing that they had no place on Alison's clean bed. With a few more shared moments, Alison pulls away with a satisfying tug of Emily's top lip and rises up, removing her basic night tee over her head. Standing completely topless with no bra underneath, the blonde tosses the shirt to the side as Emily takes the opportunity to yank off her shoes and socks, also tossing them to the side. She sits up on the edge of the bed, taking in the mesmerizing beauty in the form of Alison in front of her with her mouth hanging in awe. Alison bends over, leaning in for another slow kiss as Emily starts sliding her flannel top off her. At the same time, Alison's hands roam with their own intention and crawl behind Emily's back, unhooking her bra to take away the one of the main pieces that is soon going to get in the middle of things. Once off, carelessly dropping the article of clothing to the floor underneath their feet, Emily crawls backwards farther into the middle of the bed as Alison climbed on top of her with their lips still intact.

"Does it hurt?" Alison mumbles into Emily's mouth as Emily's hand arose to grasp the back of Alison's neck, bringing her closer to her.

"What?"

Alison stops their kiss and looks onto Emily with her hands resting on the upper part of the brunette's abdomen, " _Your bruise._ " She whispers innocently with genuine concern dripped in her tone as she intently gazes into Emily's brown eyes that had a small dim flame gradually grow behind them, "Does it hurt?"

Emily eyes drop down at her stomach where she sees Alison straddling on top of her, trying not to put any kind of pressure on her right side, "It's a little sore…" The brunette softly groans knowing that the extra movements that are yet to come are going to put her in some discomfort. Nonetheless, she shakes her head, glancing back up at Alison as she strokes the back of her head, refusing to let a little pain ruin the moment between them, "But I don't care. I want you."

Alison sucks in her bottom lip as she allows Emily to pull her back into her face, placing a kiss on her jawline which gives her a slight shiver down her back, " _I want you too_."


	19. Chapter 19: I'll See You Later, Okay?

***Winks* I'm baaaaaaaack! This is going to be quite a lengthy Author's Note so hold onto your lashes. I will briefly touch on my hiatus and answer a few review questions. If you want to go straight to the money, be my guest. It is down below waiting for you :)**

 **Ok, first and foremost, it's nice to see all of you guys again. Even though I can't** _ **physically**_ **see you, I have faces for each of you in my head so technically I am seeing you and you're seeing me.** _ **Yes!**_ **My abrupt disappearance was random and I want to apologize for it. I didn't intended to drop off the face of the earth but life happens, you know? My father recently has been told that he is being deployed for war. Matter of fact, I'm actually in the airport right now editing this as he gets ready to leave. He's going to be gone for half of this year and, ever since I got the short notice of news, I _really_ lost my ambition to write. _That's why I've been gone so long, baby!_ However, writing has always been an outlet for me so I'm going to keep my stories alive for you guys. Bear with me, folks!**

 **To my reviews for the last chapter: Let's just take the time to praise that the writers DID NOT go the pregnancy route. Because, honestly with them, they don't cease to surprise me anymore ever since they brought incest into the show.** **On another note, as a reviewer wrote, Emily contemplating suicide is a very interesting theory as I never thought about it. Let me tell you one thing, Wayne is going to be alive and breathing in this work of fiction so take that JD and MK. But since the episode already came out do you wanna know what I think it is for Emily's problem?!**

 _ **Drugs!**_ **or** _ **Disease!**_

 **It's honestly one or the other with that one. Either way I'm preeeeeeetty sure Em's storyline is going to shred me in half.**

 _ **Packersgirl492**_ **:** _ **"But like DAMN Marlene talk about not living in reality!"**_ **Your whole review had me loling. Marlene is just in her own imaginary world,** _ **shh!**_ **I'm graduating uni soon and let me tell you, I better have big name companies banging down my door, trying to give me CEO positions with the expectations Marlene has given me. By 22, I expect to have my own private practice with just a bachelor's degree, counseling celebrity couples with rates at $500 per hour. I'm gonna retire by the time I'm 30, guys, watch me. Next thanksgiving, I'm going to be the topic of dinner: The most laid back, accomplished young adult to** _ **ever**_ **grace my family. Look out, grandma. I'm going to buy you a fresh pair of teeth. Top** _ **and**_ **bottom because I can afford it. Have you looking like the baddest woman to ever hit the grocery store. All the elderly men are gonna be falling out their wheelchair, tripping over there walkers, pressing their LifeAlert buttons because you stopped their pacemakers. I can do all that for you, Abuela. All thanks to Marlene King who made this dream possible** _ ***Winks at camera***_

 _ **Time-Jump careers:**_ **I've noticed quite a few of you have said that you guys saw Alison as a writer in her future.** _ **And you know what?**_ **I could see that as well. Other than dramatics, her imagination definitely runs. Trying to keep this story as level-headed as can be, the downside of being a writer, like most creative pursuits, is that it has always been a less than lucrative lifestyle. Even if she makes a book about her life with A and it sells well, the dollars to hour ratio will be** _ **well below**_ **your average corporate job. Writing has never been and never will be an easy way to make a living and I wanted Alison to have some kind of steady footing in her career choice. The reason I say this is because….** _ ***Pauses for a brief moment, gestures you to come closer, looks around, and whispers***_ **in this story's time-jump, Emily and Alison will be in a position in their lives where they are going to be seeing each other every other day, if not daily because of their work. Don't tell anyone I said this. If anyone asks, you didn't get it from me. _*Scratches arm like a crackhead*_ got any ideas? I got these cheeseburgers, _man_...**

 **But enough babbling on, for now! The final presentation is here for your greedy needs.**

 **Pre-warning: You might want to put your Air Conditioner on full blast for the next…..3,000 words.**

CHAPTER #19: I'll See You Later, Okay?

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that time has passed.

Slipping off each other's bottoms with more of a rush then earlier, Alison kissed and explored with her lips further and further up Emily's glorious body until she reached her chest. She kissed the space between her protruding busts and kissed her way to one breast. Alison felt Emily suck in her breath harshly as her mouth clasped onto her nipple. She tongued the areola softly at first before she took in the nipple between her lips and sucked it into her mouth. After a few seconds, Alison releases the breast with a satisfying plop back against Emily's chest, causing the brunette to lowly moan to herself in bliss. Alison continues on with the same amount of attention to Emily's other nipple and started a path of going back and forth from one breast to the other as Emily began squirming beneath her touch and licks. It's been a while since Emily has been this intimate with Alison or anyone for that matter. It's been such a long time that she forgot how sensitive to touch her skin is. And with every touch Alison places on her, she feels like she's going to implode from all the overwhelming sensations. The blonde moved her lips up Emily's chest and settle herself back against Emily's mouth. They resumed their passionate kissing as Alison hands had yet to stop moving as she caressed Emily's side.

Emily buzzed her affection for Alison by licking her way around her neck and then down to her full breasts. Her tongue was absolute magic, catching Alison a bit off-guard as her hands dug into the pillow above Emily. Feeling the brunette nurse her breasts with so much passion and attentiveness, Alison was at a loss of words and was only able to close her eyes and live in the moment. With both her father being downstairs and Jason right across the hall, Alison tried everything within herself to keep quiet. Although this wasn't her first rodeo at sex before, she could easily say without a shadow of a doubt that this was the most intimate moment she has ever experienced and it's only been a few minutes. From the built up anticipation to the sexual frustration turned sexual passion, she knew that this encounter was going to be one that she nor Emily will ever forget. Alison focused on trying to uphold herself above Emily as she found herself weakening at a quickened pace with every movement and direction of Emily's tongue swirling across her skin. Alison swallowed harshly the moment she felt Emily's hand drift to her sex as she felt her finger slide along the wetness of her opening. The blonde gasped lightly while Emily moaned onto her breasts. At that moment, feeling overwhelmed, Alison couldn't support her unsteady position anymore and fell on top of Emily. The brunette let out a quiet hiss as Alison's body crashed onto her bruised side, feeling the aching throbbing coming from the sudden contact. However, she fleetingly gritted through it her as one hand stayed occupied on Alison's lower half and the other reaching for the side of the blonde's neck in one fluid motion. Alison's knees gave into the pleasurable handling of Emily's control and before she knew it, she was bucking her hips to the thrusting motions of Emily's fingers. Her one turned two fingers were flying in and out of the blonde as she moaned and met each thrust with as much strength she could muster. It wasn't long before Alison started gasping for breath as the inevitable build up was beginning to throw her into a warp of passion. With her eyes still closed, Alison bows down and rests her forehead against Emily's as she tried to collect herself. Emily takes the opportunity to lean forward and latch onto Alison's bottom lip, sucking on it suggestively as she continued to work herself through her uncomfort and stinging pain on the side that Alison was resting herself on the most. This caused Alison to let out a not so subtle moan that instantly made her regret it as soon as it slipped out. She hoped with all her heart that she didn't peak the curiosity of her father or Jason that could be anywhere in the house. Through her defenseless state, her moans began to pick up volume although she tried to control them. Pulling her bottom lip out of Emily's mouth, Alison bites down as she threw her face away from the brunette, restraining herself to keeping as quiet as possible. She was fiercely meeting each thrust of Emily with her hips, squeezing the pillow under her grasp and, before she knew it, her room became eerily silent with just wet smacking sounds of Emily's fingers pumping furiously in and out of her.

"Come on, baby…" Emily's lips traveled up to her ear to whisper before she placed a lingering kiss on the ever so struggling blonde. " _Alison_ …. _Cum for me, Ali_ …."

Being the match that ignited the bomb, Emily's words were all Alison needed to hear. Her back arched as she threw her head back, sighing Emily's name several times in a shaky, broken murmur as the pleasure built up to an intolerable level within her body. With her body quivering to the brunette's jerking motions, Alison clamped a hand firmly to the back of her neck and the other to Emily's breast.

" _Em….Em…ily….Shhhit…"_ Alison shakily cries as she the buildup bottled over and overtook her thoughts and words, " _Emily! Fuuuck!"_

Alison's hips were bucking to her touch as she moaned out the ride of her exhilarating orgasm onto Emily's shoulder. Her jagged breathing shocked her. Never has she ever felt such a powerful, engulfing feeling of pleasure from anyone's touch before like that – _ever_. Alison's body was exhausted and completely drained but the rest of her senses were ravenous for more. The blonde sluggishly turned her head to Emily -who never took her gaze off her throughout that entire ride- and looked lazily into her soft brown eyes. She smiled up at Alison as she slowly removed her fingers and brought them up to her lips, taking a small taste as Alison stared at her breathlessly in a haze. Before Emily could do anything else, Alison sat up, reached over, and grabbed Emily's hand, resting her saturated fingers on the surface of her tongue before she closed her lips around them. Rising her body to a sitting position as well, Emily parted her lips slightly in awe as Alison sat before her and sucked and licked her fingers.

" _Shit..."_ Emily mumbled before she opens her mouth in a fixed admiration, flickering her sights back and forth between Alison's eyes and her mouth. Alison's own juices were just the elixir she needed for the boost of energy to take Emily to the next level.

 _I'm such a jackass. Such as jackass-I am the superior jackass!_ Emily tells herself as she watches Alison tongue swirl around her fingers. _This whole time I could have had this. I could have had these nights of passion with Alison but I chose to fight, I chose to be bitter and impatient. I chose to wait to the last minute to make amends and now I can only experience this once. Holy fucking shit, I am the biggest jackass on the entire east coast. Congratulations, Emily. You fucked up once more._ Emily pinches her eyebrows in thought as she brought in her bottom lip between her teeth, _Well, you might as well make this fucking count._

It wasn't soon before Emily replaced her fingers with her tongue, allowing Alison to gladly suck her into her mouth. Her tongue felt around Alison's mouth as Emily clashed against it with her own. With such involvement and want, Emily believed she was kissing Alison as if she were Aphrodite the goddess in the flesh. And, then – the shock of that thought surprised her. She quickly shook that thought out of her head. _No,_ she thought to herself as she kissed her with her amount of hunger, _she is my Aphrodite._ _She is MY goddess. She's mine, dammit._

Alison pulls back sharply with the release of Emily's tongue in her mouth's grasp before she narrowed her eyes at the brunette. Without any words, Alison places a hand on Emily's chest and gently pushes her back down into her mattress. With the eyes in front of her and the almost pleading look on Alison's face told Emily all she needed to know. Alison swooped down on top of Emily's tan, defined body, leaving a trail of kisses and long licks down her chest to her stomach, down to her navel. However, Alison picked up Emily's scent her before she could even taste her. The aroma of her was intoxicating to the blonde which surprised her to say the least. She felt like a shark that caught their first trace of blood and was instantly attracted by their uncontrollable power of hunger. With the mixture of the brunette's body lotion that was complimented greatly with her body chemistry as she traveled herself down, her nostrils flared with heat as she took in another inhale of her enticing scent.

"God, Emily…" the blonde whispered deeply as she leaned in for the kill, "You smell _mouthwatering_." Emily smiled bashfully at Alison's words watching her closely before Alison kissed the top of her opening softly, causing Emily to close her eyes with a low moan escaping her lips. The smacking of Alison's lips on hers was the best sound in the entire world according to Emily's ears. At that moment, she was certain that she would find herself dreaming every night of that sound for as long as Alison would be away from her. Alison's hands came together as she ran them up the insides of Emily's silken inner thighs. They drifted closer and closer to her slit and right as she was taking in a breath to release some of the tension built up in her body, she harshly let it out as Alison's finger found its way to her wet entrance. Accompanying, she starting exploring the various folds of Emily's most vulnerable area with her tongue. Alison took Emily's lips and sucked them deep into her mouth, which she was rewarded with a loud moan. Immediately, Alison used her free hand and reached up to Emily's mouth, silencing her noise as the very tip of her tongue was tracing the opening to her slit. Emily began shifting under Alison's hand both over her mouth and inside her, arching her back now with the muffling of her ecstasy as the blonde's finger dipped out of her temporarily before it was replaced with two fingers sliding in and out with ease. Alison picked up the pace while she began lapping at her opening wildly. Without second thought, Emily's hips thrust eagerly into the blonde's face below her, feeling not only her sensitivity but her bruised side heighten with every movement. Alison was relishing the scent and taste of Emily all around her as she began to quicken her movements where she replied with quickening movements as well. How Emily began to jerk when Alison took her two fingers and ran them up the length of her, drawing one on each side of her pearl, slowly stretching the flesh around it and pulling her hood back until that little sensitive piece of flesh was exposed to the tip of Alison's tongue that kept pace with the her fingers. Emily immediately felt out of control of herself and began climbing up the bed with Alison following until she was trapped with her back against the headboard. Alison nipped her clit and rolled it back and forth as Emily began writhing madly, crying out her name over and over under her hand covering her mouth. The moaned into her lips again, only this time, it was a begging moan. Alison begged her to cum with that moan. She wanted to feel her contract against her tongue, her fingers, her as a whole.

Alison's eyes flickered up to see Emily's body language drastically change as she clawed at the sheet of the bed with one hand and tightly grasped Alison's hand covering her mouth with her breathing pattern beginning to quicken. With a moment passing by, Emily furiously grabbed for the roots of Alison's hair as she felt the buildup of her release starting. Alison took her clit in her mouth and sucked deep, working her tongue in a fluid up and down motion as her fingers were curling into her to that one special spot they both knew she could reach. The brunette's cries lifted to a higher note as she extended her neck with her mouth escaping Alison's hand.

" _Oh…God! Alison, please….don't….s-stop…."_

Obeying her orders, Alison put both hands on both inner thighs, squeezing them as she focused on her clit only. She started sucking it into her mouth with such poise, such vigor that Emily's eyes flickered and rolled back into her head and became completely silent with her mouth left hung open. It was so quiet in her room, Alison checked in Emily's direction to see exactly what was going on to make sure she was alright, however, she didn't wasn't going to stop her pacing, if anything, she kept going faster. Completely losing herself, Emily's body starts squirming in different directions as Alison hears her call out louder than she expected which both pleased and frightened her at the same time.

" _Fuuuuuuck! Oh my god-oh my god! Alison!_ " With such buildup from their first kiss since she entered the room to this moment, all of Emily's sexual frustration is properly released with a concentrated and forceful orgasm that causes her to lose all of her senses for a long 10 seconds. Wave after wave crashes on top of her as Alison threw out her hand once again to cover Emily's mouth before she drew attention to her room. Through the brunette's struggles, Alison tried to hold onto her as best she could to ride out the lingering orgasm. The feeling of her quivering body gradually returned back to earth along with her slowed breathing as both girls locking eyes with Alison sliding up her body, motioning her to be quiet before she removed her hand.

" _I love you. I love you. I love you."_ Emily rambled out breathlessly from the release of Alison hold as she reached her hands out for the blonde's face. _"I love you so much. I love you, Alison."_

Alison giggles at Emily's serious state as she leaned into the brunette and kissed her. The kiss lasted for a while because Emily's longing for Alison only increased in intensity as she tasted herself on her lips. Alison sucked Emily's bottom lip back into her mouth and tugged on it with her teeth before Emily let up for a second and removed her mouth from the blonde's to catch her breath. She extends out a weak hand to smooth down Alison's messy hair as she noticed Alison was looking down at her now glistening body, seemingly pondering an idea. Before anything could be said, Alison pulls away from Emily's touch as she inches backwards, leaving Emily hopelessly staring at her with her chest still heaving up and down. Without warning, Alison grabs one of Emily's legs and pulls her towards her, causing the brunette to fall back onto the mattress at the surprised yank. She looked up at Alison who was crawling on top of her, paying close attention to her legs as she spread them apart.

"I'm going to need you to be _really_ quiet for this one, _okay?_ " Alison purrs with a reassuring smile.

Emily brings her chin to her chest as she stared into Alison's eyes that flashed into an almost predatorily gaze. She pouted with her voice coming out softly as she braced herself for what was coming next. " _Okay_."

…

As the minutes suspended into melted, ticking seconds in Alison's room that was swallowed by the darkness of the night before them. Alison lies on her back, staring at her ceiling with her fingers curled into Emily's hair as the brunette laid on her side, close to her, one arm around Alison's warm to the touch body and her face on her bare chest. The sound of Alison's consistent yet fast heartbeat pulsates through Emily's head like a melody, as if that unique melody was her soul speaking. A melody in which someone speaks without saying a word, almost like her inner voice. From everything, not only what they went through personally but what they went through as a group of friends, sometimes the words they want to speak doesn't have enough strength to be put through their voices. However, the little things like a heartbeat shows that they've endured and they're still here. Her heartbeat, the melody…it was pure and almost holy. Not saying a word, Alison takes in a quiet inhale followed by a lingering exhale. Feeling Emily's body rise and fall with hers through her breathing suddenly strikes a deep emotional chord with Alison. Unlike the ones she's felt before, this sensation holds a different name. The feeling was almost confusing, the mixture of her passionate need to protect and to shelter, mixed with this kind of overwhelming comfort floods her mind. It was like that same comfort and shelter she's projecting for Emily was being radiated back to her through Emily's subtle movements and the carefulness in her touches to the create a perfect loop.

"You said that you hear and see things?" Alison asks with her voice barley above a whisper as she compassionately and delicately massaged a section of Emily's hair with her one hand. Without a sound, Emily slowly nods her head against the upper part of Alison's chest as her response, not stringing together any words to break their silent moment. "What do you hear?" Alison presses on.

Silence continues to sit still as Emily's reply for a few long, drawn-out seconds before her voice emerged through her vocal chords, dripping in a tired, gravelly tone that still had a few traces of not only the growling she was doing early to prevent any loud outbursts but of the screaming that left her voice damaged nights prior, " _Everything_." she croaks out, looking at the wall in front of her, consumed by shadows, "Voices of people I know….sometimes the inner-voice that sounds like myself. And it just repeats…..over and over constantly. Sometimes starting off soft and in the background to the point you can just drown it out, sometimes it's so loud and unbearable that I feel like I'm suffocating on the air around me. Then I see him….Charles…" Emily's voice trails off as she keeps her eyes open, concentrating on the wall, not allowing her mind to drift off and follow her words to ultimately bring her back in the loop of hell she would find herself in. "It's only been a day but it feels like I've been living like this for months. I…I can't take daily." A hot tear that Emily was fighting to keep within escapes from the corner of her eye and rolls down from her face onto Alison's warm skin. "I can't go through this every day, Alison. I'm going to lose my mind." With the subtle crack in Emily's voice, Alison bites the inside of her cheek and nuzzles her chin on top of Emily's head as she took on the pondering air. To see that Emily suffering is something that Alison would never want to witness. Even through the times she wanted to _hate_ Emily, she couldn't take knowing the things Emily was dealing with.

"...I see my mom sometimes…." Alison let out with a bite of her bottom lip, cutting their silence in half. Emily ears perk up at this piece of information. Although Alison has had it worse more than any of the girls, Emily sometimes forgets that Alison lost her mom to this heartless game of revenge. She can admit that forgetting this known fact is ignorant of her but she's glad that Alison chose to open up to her about it. "At first it scared me but then I would find myself wanting to see her as much as I could. Sometimes…." Alison's eyes search out in front of her, looking for nothing specific but just looking, "Sometimes I would see her and would think it was a recollection of a memory or something. Like a daydream."

 **Sitting peacefully together out on their closed off front lawn, Alison and her mother sit on their outside sofa furniture on the quiet and still day before them. The birds chip their songs as they flip through their family scrapbook.**

" _ **God…**_ **" Jessica breathed out with a soft smile to herself as she looked at their old family pictures of Alison and Jason as kids, "I looked so young there."**

" **That is one thing Jason and I always agreed on. We have the** _ **hottest**_ **mom in the school." Alison glanced up at her mother with a cheesy, closed lipped grin before she returned back to the book in her mother's lap with her smile still lingering on her face. As they turned a few more pages, Alison's smile fades as she turns back to Jessica who was still gazing at the photos. "Jason thinks there aren't any photos of him because no one cared enough to take them."**

" **Why is everyone in this family so** _ **dramatic?**_ **" Jessica rolled her eyes with a push of an exhale and a shake of her head, "Jason was camera-shy." she turns to face Alison with a side-eye of a look, "He was always throwing out his photographs."**

 **Alison ponders her mother's words for a moment, furrowing her eyebrows at her memory, "…I don't think he remembers that because Jason said-" Alison's sentence was cut abruptly when her mother turned the page in their scrapbook to see collected photos of mug shots of each of the four girls including Alison's in her orange jumpsuit. Alison's eyes widen in fear and confusion as she stares at the photos before her.**

" **I'm** _ **glad**_ **I didn't live to see** _ **this**_ **." Jessica curls her mouth in disgust as she keeps her eyes down, scrutinizing each picture. Alison slowly twists her head and drifts her eyes up at her mother, baffled, as she stared at her up and down.**

"Then she would say things that weren't….weren't normal. Weren't normal for our typical conversation. From those moments on, I would know I was in a dream." Alison sighed as her mouth fell into a frown, remembering all those moments her memories deceived her. How she would believe that everything was okay and that her mother was alive and well until she would have the reality snapped out from under her, sending deep down into darkness. "Then there would be times when I realized I was awake and she show up at random times throughout the day. Then there would be times where she would come as nightmares…" Emily turned her head and looked up at Alison with sad, puppy-like eyes, understanding for the first time how she really felt. She knew Alison was going through things, they all were, but she didn't know how deep those things ran and how they affected her. "Your parents care about you, Emily. And that's why you should need to leave. This place…." she shakes her head wincingly with displeasure, "it isn't home. _It's a prison_."

"Why don't you come with me?" Emily leans father up towards Alison with hopeful eyes, "Come with me to Texas, please? It's no safer for you here than it is for me." Emily reaches out for Alison's hand and intertwines it with hers as she continued holding their eye contact, "Leave with me."

Alison lets out a discouraged sigh with a subtle shake of her head, knowing that Emily was going to try this venue, "I can't."

" _Yes, you can_." Emily pushes, "You can and you should."

"But what happens after? What happens when you go off on your trip-"

"You can come on the trip with me. These foundations are always looking for a helping hand. They won't mind you, I promise."

"Then what happens when you have to go to college?" Alison questions, causing Emily to quiet herself and lower her eyes. Alison hates to pop Emily's dream bubble but at this moment, there is no time for fantasies with the hand they've been dealt. The room grows silent with Emily's lack of response and eye contact but Alison still furthers her point, "What happens then? I'll have to come back here while you and everyone else gets to fly out to various parts of the country and _escape_ ….while I'm still stuck here." Alison's words were just as effective as she planned them to be as the thoughts in Emily's mind began to spin. Alison was right. Emily and the other girls will get to leave for the summer and never turn back to Rosewood as they start their new, fresh lives elsewhere in college. Alison doesn't get that luxury, unfortunately. She could leave for the summer but she can't leave forever. Being out of school for the two years she faked her death, she wasn't able to fake her academics on the run. While everyone is a senior, Alison is technically still a sophomore in the education system. She has to make up that lost time, especially if she's trying to get into college to do something with her life. Emily's silence makes Alison release out yet another sigh as she tried to push the same reality she's putting in Emily's head out of her own. To think how far behind she is embarrassed along with sickened her.

"Do you think I killed Bethany, Alison?" Emily's voice turned so quiet that Alison almost missed it if she didn't feel the vibration of Emily's words on her chest.

" _Emily_...no-"

"Don't say it just because to make me feel better." the brunette turns hastily to face Alison once again, this time with scared eyes; eyes that need consolation from herself. "Do you honestly think I killed that girl like Charles said I did?"

" _Emily.._." Alison's voice dropped into sympathy as she tilted her head to the side, staring at Emily who awaited a honest answer, "I _know_ you didn't."

"How do you know? You weren't there. I-I mean I could have, right? I know that I'm terrible with alcohol and once I've have enough in me I-"

" _Look at me_." Alison snaps with much more authority in her voice this time, catching Emily completely off-guard. She lowers her tone with her eyes narrowed at the brunette as she makes herself clear, "You _did not_ kill Bethany. It's a head game. It's _all_ a head game from Charles, you _know_ this!" Alison squeezes Emily's side with her voice coming a notch up above a whisper, " _This is what he does!_ He gets into your head with only words just for you to go crazy, so you can dig yourself your own grave without him having to do much work. You can't let him get to you now or else he has won. You can't let him win. Not after all this time. You did not kill Bethany." Emily eyes cast downward, still sulking in sadness before she gets a shake from the blonde who was still staring at her, " _Emily_ …you didn't kill her."

Emily nods her head, understanding Alison's words and where she's coming from. She knows Charles is a master manipulator and is capable of making you go crazy and that she shouldn't pay him any mind but it's so hard not to. Not when you have the possibility of murder hanging over your head. Nevertheless, pushing her thoughts away from her, Emily extends her neck and kisses Alison with a short peck. However, one peck turned into two pecks that turned into small kiss which started the engine up all over again as their small kiss starting involving the use of tongue.

…

The time boils down into crunch time with Emily pushing against urgency as she tries to spend every last moment in Pennsylvania with Alison. If anything, deep down, not only does she think Alison deserved these moments after everything she's put Alison through in recent months, she's felt she needed it too. Emily sits on the edge of Alison's bed, buttoning up her flannel as she trains her eyes on Alison standing a few feet in front of her, shirtless with a pair of dark jeans on. After their extra spark of intimacy, Emily was left with an hour and a half left before she was set to drive out to Philadelphia and board her plane to Texas. Prior to leaving for Alison's house, Emily's parents stressed the importance of time management and told her she must be checked in at least 30 minutes before her scheduled departure time at 4:35am. However, the brunette used up every possible minute with Alison until she was timed out with her parents blowing up her phone with texts and calls that she willingly ignored.

The blonde throws on a black Victoria's Secret Pink hoodie over her bare skin and flips out her blonde hair from inside the hood as her eyes wanders and catches Emily's gaze through the dim lighted room. She gives a soft smile to the owner of the eyes that were glued to her, causing Emily to let out a shy smile back. Alison slowly strides towards Emily just as Emily rose off the bed with her undone jeans and belt sagging just below her hips. Before she had the opportunity to fix herself, Alison stands in front of her with the moonlight from the window shinning at just the right angle, enough for Emily to stare into her delicate blue eyes. The feeling of Déjà vu hits Emily as she feels herself being paralyzing under Alison's gaze once again. The two girls stare intensely at each other with Emily's breathing slowed without her realizing it. It was if they were talking in silent thoughts that only one another could hear. In slow motion, Alison reaches for Emily's jeans and trails her fingers to the side, pulling them up in a single tug as a playful smile dances across her lips. Emily looks down at her with an amused smile of her own while she watches Alison fixes her pants for her from closing the zipper of her jeans to tightening and buckling her belt. When finished, she lightly taps the front of Emily's belt with an _"all done!"_ gesture and a smile to accompany her.

A rushed feeling travels through Emily's stomach with the flash of Alison's grin as she feels the urge to rip Alison's clothes off and to redo their whole night of passion all over again. For an instant, Emily contemplates completely ditching her flight for a whole day spent with Alison. Unfortunately, The extremely short-lived thought rips from her dazed and clouded mind with the loud buzzing of Emily's phone vibrating in a rhythmic beat on top of Alison's nightstand. The buzzing telling Emily that there is no way in hell she's going to blow her parents $245 ticket without them blowing an artery.

Alison leans into Emily's body, wrapping her arms around her waist, "Time to go?"

Emily hisses out a long sigh with a roll of her eyes as she rests her chin on top of Alison's head, holding her body close to hers, "Time to go..."

….

"You should follow I-76 East to South 26th Street then take exit 347A."

"That'll take about 32 to 35 minutes. If I get on I-476 South then follow it to I-95 North to Exit 12, we'll get there in about 25 minutes." Wayne offers his counter suggestion as he coasts through the quiet streets of Rosewood with his wife as his shotgun. Pam silently agrees with a head nod and leans back into her seat with her arms crossed as the smooth jazz radio station plays -at a low volume- a beautiful melody of a slow, haunting violin and piano mixture travels through the car speakers to keep everyone relatively at ease through this stressful and chaotic time. Wayne takes a peek into his rearview mirror to see Emily resting her head on Alison's shoulder with Alison's head resting on top of Emily's as they sit in the backseat seemingly asleep.

 _This isn't fair. Not to Emily, Alison or any of these girls,_ Wayne thinks to himself. _They didn't deserve the life they've had to endure for the past few years...At least they can have a peace of mind while they sleep…_

As he puts his eyes back on the road, contrary to his belief, Alison and Emily were not sleeping but just laying on each other; although their eyes are closed, they are very much awake. There was no way in Emily's logic of thinking did she want to waste any of the time left sleeping when she would have about 7 hours to sleep on her way from Philadelphia to San Antonio, Texas. The murmurs of small talk coming from Emily's parents begins as Alison gently caresses Emily's hand in hers.

"What song is this?" Alison whispers only low enough for Emily to hear her as her interest in the blended instruments strikes her attracted.

" _I dunno_ …" Emily mumbles back, relishing in Alison's soft touches, "This is the first time I'm hearing it."

"I like it."

"Me too...This can be our song if you want."

Alison smiles as the music flows perfectly to harmonize into something sad yet beautiful, almost like their bittersweet goodbye. "Sure," she agrees, "This is our song."

Most people when they close their eyes, they see memories of the past, scenes from their favorite show or media, or just darkness. Through Alison's closed eyes, all she can see is the sight of Emily's face and how beautiful she looked underneath her. How her luscious hair was spread out all over her pillow with her eyes closed as her body was heaving up and down in recovery from her orgasm. The images were so clear and vivid, it was like she was reliving that moment all over again. The sounds of Emily's moaning against her skin became intertwined with the radio playing, making it stamped as a memory that she would hold onto forever. After being so angry at how she believed that Emily blew her off for her last day in Rosewood, she's both internally and externally grateful that Emily chose to keep her last and to herself. Granted, she didn't know they were going to have sex but she's glad it happened. And glad for the various rounds they've endured through those hours they had.

Emily nuzzles in closer to Alison as she takes her hands and wraps it around Alison's arm. Doesn't matter if it's her hands, feet, or forehead, some part of Emily _had_ to be touching Alison. In this time of need, Emily felt so dependent of Alison's touch that she knows she's only setting herself up for depression once she leaves. She knows that Alison's touch will soon become a memory in her mind so it would be best to start weening herself away so it won't be so hard to get over in the future. _Fuck it_ , Emily tells herself. She's going to make sure that she takes advantage of the here and now and deal with the future when it comes. Emily briefly opens her eyes to see her parents in the front seats approaching the highway as they lose themselves within their conversation. She stares at the back of their head as she and Alison slightly bounce and sway with the movement of the car.

 _If only they knew….If only they knew the night I just had._

"The exquisite, sensuously serious, one man band, Mario De Santis on the piano and violin with his own rendition of the Queen Bee's famous, "Dangerously In Love" on 106.1, Philadelphia's _Smooth Jazz JJZ_."

"You should of known that." Alison whispers as she gently nudges Emily, making the brunette softly smile to herself.

" _I should have_."

…

Paying a quick fee for parking, lugging out her two suitcases and carry-on, and getting past her needed checkpoints, Emily, Alison, Pam, and Wayne sat in the waiting area of the airport, anticipating on the gates to open. After some time passing, being still at 4am, Aria, Spencer, and Hanna made their way into the city to see out their friend. Of course, they weren't alone. Nobody was able to travel to the airport alone, not even on Emily's side. With the group of friends along with the two parents came a steady handful of on-duty police officers on high alert for anything that seemed out of place.

"You guys made it." Emily smiles as she approaches her friends, giving each of them a tight and meaningful hug as Alison trails behind her.

"Of course we did. We wasn't gonna just let our friend leave without saying goodbye." Hanna responds with a smile as she stands of the middle of Spencer and Aria with her arms crossed, "We all hopped in Spencer's car. _PJs and all._ " Emily giggles as she and Alison look down at the trio's attire: various versions of sleeping clothing. With Hanna wearing a thrown together outfit of blue Abercrombie sweats and a grey shirt, Spencer has on a navy blue Oxford University sweatshirt with plaid pajama pants followed by Aria wearing black track shorts and a black long sleeve Rosewood High Field Hockey shirt that reads "Hastings" on the back; all with their hair in ponytails and faces looking like they've seen enough. "Luckily there isn't any paparazzi around because we would have all made it front page on Perez Hilton's trash site." Hanna lightly chuckles.

"How do you feel?" Aria narrows her eyes out of concern as she unintentionally darkens the mood, trying to get an understanding of what's going through the brunette's head.

"Mixed emotions, honestly." Emily hisses out a long sigh as she slides her hands inside her front jean pockets, looking up at the high ceilings of the surprisingly busy airport, "Most of me is ready to blast the hell out of here. Then another part," Emily's eyes rest on Alison who stands right beside her. The blonde holds eye contact with no form of emotion towards her, no smile, no blushing, no secret looks, anything. However, Emily didn't need the extra dramatics to know exactly what Alison was feeling. She was able to see everything through her eyes. "A good chuck of me doesn't want to leave just yet."

"Well you should consider yourself blessed, I wish I could leave." Hanna shamelessly leans against Spencer as a yawn escapes her lips, "I still have to do my final paper in Mrs. Henderson's class. You would think being trapped in an underground bunker for most of the teaching would omit me from doing the work but nope...still have to turn it in to pass the bitch's class."

Aria nods her head in full agreement of Hanna, "I mean you are blessed, Em. You get a running head start away from all of this. An early fresh start. Definitely take advantage of that."

"Is it really a fresh start, though?" Emily shrugs indifferently with a twist of her mouth to the praise she's receiving from her friends, "We….we're pretty much a household name in any state. _Anywhere_ we go, we'll be known as those girls who were tortured by _A_." The reality of Emily's words hits everyone for a moment. Living inside a small town like Rosewood, it's very easy to get caught up in the idea of thinking if you leave, you'll be in a whole new place where nobody knows your name. Unfortunately, throughout this entire debacle, not only have the girls been on local news and state news, their case went viral with their arrest then disappearance. And with the help of social media, the girls won't be able to enjoy a vacation out in Miami without people looking and whispering among themselves.

"Well, I rather be known as those _alive_ girls who were tortured than those dead girls which we almost were." Hanna speaks up unapologetically to disrupt the small silence between the group, not letting negativity to bring down the ray of light they have. "This is our second chance to start from the beginning and do things differently. Take life by the fucking horns instead of being scared of it. People can stare all they want." the blonde flicks her hand underneath her ponytail, swaying her hair side to side as she smiles with the upmost amount of sass, "They might as well ask for my autograph while they're at it." The other four girls laugh at Hanna's silliness but allow their smiles to linger because they know deep down within that she's 100% right.

"I'm really proud of us." Alison speaks up for the first time, putting all the attention on her as she takes a good look at each girl before finding her eyes lastly on Emily, " _I am._ We came a long way all five of us…myself included" the blonde bashfully looks down at the floor, "We used to be five clueless, sophomore girls who giggled at everything and would sit around watching Beyoncé's music videos at Emily's request. Now we're five _strong_ , young women who are going off to colleges in various parts in the country, taking no shit in the process. I promise, if we don't let this break us…if we don't let this _control_ us and we do something that _we_ want?" Alison smiles at her friends standing around her before she hooks her arm within Emily's, leaning her head on her shoulder, "Trust me, guys, we're going to be household names for the right reasons."

Everyone agrees to their own accord with all the positivity flowing through the air during Emily's departure. Keeping the good vibes going, Hanna interlocks her left arm with Aria and her right with Spencer's and huddles everyone close together like a herd of penguins. "Marin, Fields, Hastings, Montgomery, and DiLaurentis….those are fucking rich names, _dammit!_ " the blonde laughs, "We need to live up to them!"

 _"Ugh,_ I love you guys." Aria sighs happily as she grabs onto Emily's free arm and Spencer holding onto Alison to complete to circle.

"I love you guys, too." Emily rests onto Spencer as Alison nuzzles up against her. Everything that everyone said was right. They have been through so much over the years. Who would have known that the five of them would have been sucked into a world-wind like they were in and were able to survive it? From being locked in boxes to fighting for their lives, to be able to stand and hold one another and feel the heat radiating off each other's bodies as a reminder that they were still here and standing was within itself indeed a blessing. Even when Charles wasn't the main hindrance in their lives but each other, they figured out a way to push through. From having their long time fueled anger towards Alison and untrusting times between Spencer and Hanna when they turned to drugs and alcohol, their bond and love for one another overcame all whereas most circle of friends would have crumbled and dissipated into the wind.

"I know this part is going to fucking _suuuuuck_." Spencer groans as she places her mouth on Emily's shoulder. Her eyes squint at Aria and Spencer as they look at each other knowing exactly where Spencer where was going with what she was about to say. Emily questions the silent glances and turns to look at the brunette, awaiting for her announcement, "We would love to sit here with you and watch you fly out but ever since _you know who_ wanted to play red wire-blue wire, my parents were pretty adamant about coming back home immediately."

"Yeah, same." Aria and Hanna softly agree with sad frowns, not wanting to leave so quickly since they had just arrived. Being out so far out in the city away from home before sunrise, none of the parents liked the idea of any of the girls traveling with the lack of information of who Charles worked with and if he was the only one in these heinous wrongdoings. The only reason they were able to even go out was because of the assisted officers and presence of Emily's parents. If it was up to Peter Hastings, he would have had the girls facetime their goodbye to Emily before she left for Texas.

Emily shakes her head with a smile, dismissing their worries, "It's no problem, I'm just glad you guys came out. I'm...I'm gonna really miss you guys." she looks over at all three girls with her lips pouted and eyebrows furrowed as her face scrunched up in the sadness she knew was going to come when it was time to say their final and last goodbyes.

"We're going to miss you too, Em." Aria takes the initiative to start off the goodbyes as she breaks the circle and approaches Emily, wrapping her arms around her for a warm and tight hug. Emily hunkers down a bit to embrace Aria's tiny frame and closes her eyes to prevent her tears that desperately tried to roll down her face, "Please, take care of yourself." Aria whispers into her ear before they pull apart. Emily nods her head with her lips pressed together and eyes sadden as she turns to Spencer awaiting her turn.

"You be good out there in Texas, _ya hear_? They ain't as nice as us folks up here in the Upper East Side." Spencer wags her finger at the brunette in her best impression of a southern accent, making not only Emily giggle but the rest of the other girls watching on.

" _Loud and clear, partna_." Emily chuckles as she pulls Spencer into a hug as well. Emily looks over Spencer's shoulders to find Hanna looking at her with her hand covering the side of her mouth in a stance that looked like she was trying to stop herself from doing something. Crying maybe? When the two brunettes pull away, Spencer pats Emily on her back and walks off to the side by Aria and Alison, leaving one last person left to see. Emily tilts her head to the side with a smile and extends her hands outwards, causing Hanna to roll her eyes with a scoff as she sways her way towards Emily.

"Don't look at me like that, you loser." Hanna playfully pushes Emily's hands away from her, "Forget what I said earlier. You're weak for leaving us like this."

"I love you too, Han." Emily smirks as she grabs Hanna's waist anyway for their last hug. Hanna throws her arms over Emily's neck and nuzzled her head tightly into the crook of her neck as the jokes left her and the realization set in that Emily was leaving for good and most likely won't see her for a long time. Aria opens her phone and clicks her camera app, almost forgetting it would be a good time to not only capture the cute moment between Emily and Hanna but to take pictures of everyone for the last moment. Within their hug that has lasted longer than the others, Emily hears the faint sound of sniffling coming from the blonde wrapped around her which begins to break her heart. "Don't cry, Hanna." Emily whispers low enough for Hanna to hear as she sways her side to side, "If you cry, you're gonna make me cry."

Hanna's chin starts to tremble as a single tear rolled down her cheek, "Promise…promise to text me every day."

"I promise-"

"100 times a day."

"I promise to text every day."

" _And call_." Hanna wipes her face, pulling out of their hug as she stares into Emily's brown eyes with her own sad blue eyes and lips curled down into a frown, "You have to text and call me. I don't care if you're waking up, going to sleep, eating, or getting ready to take a shit, you call me, okay?"

Emily lets out a small laugh as she nods her head, holding both of Hanna's hands inside of her own, "Okay, I will."

"And write me when you go on your trip. Don't forget to write me."

"I won't forget."

For a moment, Hanna forgets the world. She forgets she's surrounded by friends, she forgets she's in an airport, she forgets the time of day as she looks at Emily with her tears staring to blur her vision. She told herself the entire ride there that she wasn't going to cry, that she was going to keep her cool, go in, say hi and bye, and walk out with no problem. However, everything is easier in theory. When it actually comes down to it, there was no way she was going to be able to do a drive-by of a sendoff of her best friend, It was physically impossible. "I'm gonna miss you so much, Emily." the blonde's voice cracks under pressure as her tears run again, prompting Emily to raise her hand and brush them away as she tried to keep herself composed, "I wish it didn't have to come down to this-to us having to spread out as far as possible. I always wished we could go to college together and be around each other all the time but you're smart and I'm stupid but it was always something I wanted. Now…." Hanna's voice trails off as she holds Emily's hand tightly, not wanting to say the words she was about to say, " _Now, I don't know how I'm going to live without you_."

" _Hanna_ …" Emily's face falls with the words of her best friend. Out of all of the girls, excluding her romantic interest for Alison, Hanna has always been the closet to Emily. Ever since they first met, they clicked rather immediately. It was Hanna's bubbly smile, non-filter, and carefree attitude that attracted her primarily compared to Spencer and Aria. When times were rough, they always could lean on each other for support without any judgment and that was something Emily valued heavily early on. If anything, Emily could say without a shadow of a doubt that she absolutely loved Hanna. "First of all, you are _not_ stupid, okay? I never want to hear you say that ever again. Secondly, I'm sorry this had to happen, Hanna. To all of us. But I promise you, I'm going to stay in contact with you every day: text, call, facetime, everything. _I swear_."

Hanna quietly nods with her eyebrows intensely pinched inward as she takes in slow collective breaths in and out. After a brief moment of silence, Hanna redeems herself, "I don't say goodbyes so…" she takes the back of her hand and wipes her face again, "I'll see you later, okay?"

"Okay." Emily smiles at her. Hanna tries her best to match the brunette's smile but it wavers a bit, falling flat instead. Instead of letting her go, Emily pulls her in once more for another hug to soothe her friend one last time before she leaves. Aria and Spencer give their quick goodbyes to Alison before they slowly begin trekking along to head out. Emily lets go of Hanna, smoothing her hair back as she gives her another smile, "Go ahead and start going back before your mom gets worried." Hanna sadly nods and turns away only to find Spencer waiting supportively behind her.

"Don't worry, I'll take care of her." Spencer tells Emily as she wraps Hanna's arm around her own and begins walking her in the direction they came from.

"Wait a second," Aria stops everyone from dispersing with an extension of her hand, "I know we all look like we crawled out of hell but one last selfie? For old time's sakes?" Everyone looks at each other for approval as Hanna groans to herself, obviously not wanting to take a picture now that she looks horrible _and_ has been crying. However, an agreement was made for old time's sakes. Everyone huddles into a tight group once again for a picture with Hanna immediately clinging onto Emily's side and Alison on the opposite. Positions change with Alison and Spencer, although, because of height difference seeing that Spencer blocked Alison's face so the standings become Spencer, Emily, and Hanna in back with Alison and Aria in front. Aria takes the camera, holds her hand up high, and counts down to ready everyone for the picture. They snap a few different photos with different poses for a few seconds before everyone was satisfied and disbanded.

"Have fun in Texas, Em." Aria waves back at Emily as the three of them began walking away. The officers awaiting by notice their movement and ready themselves to leave as well, internally surprised at how quick the visit was, " _Hey._ Maybe you'll meet yourself a hot blonde chick with the short shorts and daisy dukes while you're down there."

" _Ooooh_ , _she won't._ " Alison speaks up a bit harshly with a friendly smile before Emily had the chance to even formulate a word. The quick possessiveness shocks not only Emily but Alison herself at how just the mention of Emily entertaining some other girl makes her jump with jealously. However, Aria and Spencer's laughter showed they didn't catch onto her protectiveness while Hanna's eyebrow raised at both Emily and Alison knowingly as if to say, " _Hmm..._ ". Everyone does their final goodbye wave one last time and walks out of the waiting lobby out of eye shot and back into the route to Rosewood. With her tongue in her cheek, Emily turns to her face Alison with a mischievous smirk and arched eyebrow, waiting for her to explain to herself. Alison rolls her eyes with a scoff as she walked to the chairs aligned against the walls of the lobby, " _Hot blonde chick with the short shorts and daisy dukes,_ " she mocks Aria's suggestion, leaving Emily to watch her walk away.

…..

Being early for precautions, half an hour passes within the waiting lobby and the plane as yet to load its passengers yet, however, time is soon up in due time. Emily and Alison sit a few chairs down away from Pam and Wayne with Emily having Alison resting on her lap, her arms wrapped around her waist and Alison's arms' around her neck with their foreheads pressed together. After some time, Alison had put on her hood from the chilly temperature so her face and half of Emily's were undetectable from their position. Throughout the time, they've shared their small talk, kissed, stayed quiet, just held each other and lived in the moment. There were so many things that were going through Emily's head that she couldn't believe how impulsive she wanted to be. The thoughts of her just grabbing Alison's hand and running out of the airport to God knows where kept plaguing her to the point she almost caught herself about to do it. One thing she noticed is that when she was around Alison, she didn't hear the noises and the intrusive voices she was hearing earlier. She knew how painful this separation was going to be and she wasn't prepared for it in the least bit.

"I better not scroll through Facebook and see you with a hot blonde chick with the short shorts and daisy dukes once you get over there, Emily, or else." Alison whispers to the brunette causing Emily to get out of her thoughts and laugh at Alison's serious tone.

"Or else _what_ , Alison?" Emily replied back in the smuggest of smirks.

"Or else I will purchase a plane ticket and kick _both_ of your asses, _Emily_." Alison responded back on beat with no hesitation, making Emily move her head to the side, laughing out loud, unexpecting of her answer. "I will make you watch me kick her ass first, then I will _beat_ your ass in front of your aunt and cousins for making me fly to Texas in the first place. And if any of them try to stop me from giving it to you, I'm beating _their_ ass." Emily laughterbecomes even harder, getting a few looks her way from other people as Alison smiles to herself for making such a successful joke, "Everyone's getting their ass beat that day."

"Oh god, I love you." Emily comes back for air, gripping her waist tighter. She dips her head back into Alison's hood and gives her a kiss where no one could see and that's exactly how she liked it. A small private place for just her and Alison where they could get as intimate as they wanted away from prying eyes. Even though it wasn't _completely_ private, it was shielded enough way that they could steal a few kisses or two.

….

" _THIS IS THE FIRST BOARDING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE FLIGHT 433 TO SAN ANTONIO. ALL TICKET INVESTORS, PLEASE, MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE GATE."_

The announcement that Emily dreaded was made and the moment she heard it, she wanted to die. She didn't want to move nor acknowledge she even heard it but she knew she had no choice when she when heard everyone else around her getting up. Alison held onto her tightly, not saying anything, not moving.

 _Inhale…_

 _Exhale…._

 _Come on, Emily. You have to do this…._

Pam and Wayne stand up and look over at Emily down the aisle still holding onto Alison despite the calling of her flight over the intercom. Pam goes to walk over in Emily's direction when Wayne stops her with his hand, silently signaling her to give Emily time.

"Come on, baby." Alison purrs as she strokes the back of Emily's neck. She feels the lack of Emily's ambition to leave radiating off of her but she knows she has to push her because if she doesn't, she'll probably wait to the last second to move. With her head bowed and hands still gripping Alison's hips, Emily sluggishly rises off the hard square chairs and to her feet where Alison took the liberty of bending down and grabbing Emily's carry-on bag, throwing it over her shoulder as she held one of the brunette's hand. "Are you are you ready?"

Emily's eyes raise up to gaze into Alison's where she stares at her for a few brief seconds, "…No." she whispers with a head shake. Although she doesn't want to go through with it, she slowly walks hand in hand with Alison anyway towards her parents. With every step, the voices in her head scream at her to run the opposite direction while she still had the chance but she painfully ignores them.

"It's time to board your plane now, Em." Wayne's voice calmly instructs as he hands over her papers and identification that he had been holding on while she had been holding onto Alison. "It's a 7 hour trip but giving the time zone difference, you should be just in time for breakfast." he gives Emily a warm smile and a tight hug, feeling no kind of worries for his daughter's trip. "Your mother and I will be taking a visit down there in few weeks so you won't be terribly alone." Emily tries her best to give her parents a smile as she gives them both a hug but the only think she can think about is the blonde standing beside her, holding her backpack. Saying her goodbyes to her parents as they move to the side, Emily turns to her focal point. Alison's lips curl up into a supportive smile as she holds onto one strap of Emily's bag, locking eyes as the brunette approaches her.

"So this is it." she forces out a laugh, "This is what it boils down to."

"Alison, I need you to promise me something." Emily cuts in seriously, not meaning to disregard her light mood but her mind is so warped that she had to get what she needed out in the open right then and there before she left. Alison nods her head in agreement as her face became serious instantly, "Be safe... _please_. Promise me you'll be safe." Emily stares at her intently with her wide yet sagged brown eyes to accompany her frown, "I'm not here to protect you anymore so _please_ , promise me you'll protect yourself at all times, please."

"I promise, Emily." Alison nods affirmatively to Emily's wishes as she feels a sting in the back of her throat, hearing the sadness of Emily's voice of not being there to protect her and being worried for her safety, "I will"

The brunette slides her hand up the side of Alison's face as she stepped in closer, closing the gap between them, she gazed into her blue eyes. She didn't care who was around, who was watching, who disapproved, all she cared about is if Alison understood how much she cared for her at that moment in time and how much her words meant. Touching her skin, she felt every caress and warm kiss that she placed on her hours prior and through her eyes, she saw every time she got lost in them, knowing that she was ultimately and crazily in love with her, "We're going to see each other again, okay?" Emily nodded her head as a tear dropped, "We will. We're going to see each other again. Whether it's by choice or by an ass beating."

Alison lets out an amused giggle, nuzzling her cheek into Emily's hand as she peered up at her with her eyes twinkling, "We will, we will." It wasn't soon before she bit her bottom lip as she gulped down, feeling the exact same feeling that Emily felt as they knew that they were at the end of their rope. They didn't want to admit it but they both knew it with their silent stare down that started gaining tears. " _I love you_." Alison's voice cracks into a whisper as the first two tears from her eyes fall as much as she tried to stop them.

Emily folds her paper, places it in her back pocket, and rises her other hand to the Alison's face, cupping her close as she began to breakdown watching Alison cry. She parts open her mouth, breathing shakily as softly smiles down at her, "I love you too," Emily bends down and presses her lips down against Alison's for a long kiss that they both wish could have lasted forever. Pulling away briefly, Emily kisses Alison again, pecking her a few times, " _I love you. I love you so much_." she murmurs into her lips.

Alison glides her hands over Emily's face as she breaks their kiss.

 _Everything blurs._

The chatter and the background visuals of the people disappears as she looks Emily in the eyes, searching back in the back and forth, "I want you to call me when the voices get too loud, okay?" Alison whispers, "Don't let him get into your head. You're not allow to do that, you hear me?" Emily clenches her jaw as she holds onto Alison tightly. She doesn't say or do anything but stare at her because, for a moment, that's all she could do. One thing that she has realized time and time again, throughout this whole night, is when she's with Alison, everything is peaceful. She knows that while she holds Alison in her hands, the world is still.

 _Everything is quiet._

 _And the moment she lets go, silence will be nothing but confusion and torment._

Emily feels the hot sensation of tears roll down her face even more, feeling like silly putty in Alison's hands as she stares at the passive eyes in front of her.

"Do you understand me, Emily?"

Emily quietly nods agreement as she kept her eyes glued onto Alison. She sees Alison look back as if she overheard something but Emily cannot hear anything but her heartbeat and her slow breathing. It's almost surreal how humans can physically block out noise and only focus on one concentrated element at a drop at a drop a dime. It's as if we have a super power that we don't know we have nor realize we do when we do it.

"Okay..." Alison strokes Emily's face as the brunette returns the look back at her in almost a dazed stare, "It's time to go."

 _"Don't let me go..."_ Emily mouths inaudibly that Alison herself couldn't even hear. _"Don't ...leave me..."_ Alison breaks her eye contact with her and looks up at Emily's parents as she drops her hands from Emily's face. All of a sudden, all of the sound of the world came rushing back into Emily's ears at a blaring volume all at once.

" _THIS IS THE SECOND BOARDING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR THE FLIGHT 433 TO SAN ANTONIO. ALL TICKET INVESTORS, PLEASE, MAKE YOUR WAY TO THE GATE."_

Emily's hands fell and immediately reached for Alison's as she caught her glimpse once more with a shaky voice, _"_ Please don't let me go. _I-I-I-I_ can't do this." Emily begged her with her wide, teary eyes and unstable hands, "I can't do this. _"_

Alison's face crumbled into a frown from her heart breaking to see Emily so scared but most of all, not understanding why she's being so hesitant now, "Emily, yes you can. What...Wh-"

Wayne and Pam quickly step in upon seeing their daughter shaking, afraid that she was going to work herself into another episode in the airport. "Emily, what's the matter?" Wayne soothes his daughter's shoulders "What's wrong?"

Emily ignores her parents concerns as her eyes were still onto Alison in front of her. She squeezes her hand tightly as she tries to articulate her words but ends up choking on them from the overwhelming emotions that is sweeping her, "Alison, I...I-I...I need you, _p-please_."

Absolutely shattered by hearing the amount of sadness and begging coming out Emily, Alison knows that this visual is going to be a memory that's going to be engraved inside of her forever. She bows her head as she looks down at their hands, biting her top lip as she did everything in her power to let Emily down as easy as she could, Alison sighs, "I can't go..." she painfully replies before she glanced back up at the brunette with tears resting in the brim of her eyes, "I'm so sorry. I wish I could..." Alison softly strokes Emily's hand with her thumb as she removes her carry-on from off her back and hands it over to Emily, gesturing her that it was time to go. Emily looks down at the bag for a few seconds , letting the agonizing realization hit her. And painfully it did. The brunette gloomily nods her head before she takes the bag out of Alison's grasp and slings it over her shoulder. She reaches into her back pocket and grabs her papers as begins to slowly walk herself into line where she is placed for checking. When she, her ticket, and her bag were examined and cleared for flying by the TSA, Emily takes one look back at her family where she sees Pam, Wayne, and Alison -with her father's hand resting on the blonde's shoulder, nodding his head at Emily approvingly- Emily softly smiles at them with a quick wave before she disappeared around the corner to her plane waiting to take her to Texas.

 _Silence._

 _It's something people crave. You hear it all the time. Whether it's from someone who's young or old, boy or girl, people like silence._ _Because they say silence is golden, right? What's that saying? Appreciate the silence?_

 _Well,_

 _What if the silences are the jump scares that keep you up at night?_

 _ **To Be Continued: 8 Year Fast Forward At Ages 25/26**_

* * *

 **And there you have that, everyone. Emily has left the building. I hope you enjoyed that ride of a chapter you just read. The next chapter you will receive will, indeed, be a time jump. I chose 8 years instead of 5 because I didn't want the girls to be right out of college, I wanted them to be a bit seasoned. (so thangs can be a bit more realistic *cough cough*)**

 **What will happen, what will happen? :O** **Anything can happen!**

 **You guys are more than welcome to sound-off your opinions on what you would like to see in the time jump as you know how I like incorporating ideas. As a writer, I do get brain freezes and run out of ideas from time to time so feel free to throw some bricks at me. I will say this...for the time jump...will there be drama? Well...this fic wouldn't be called _Acquired Madness_ if there wasn't :)**

 **Alright, I'm done talking. Thank you guys for holding on, seriously. This is going to be a tough time for me and I've been honestly stressing everyday that has gone past that I have not updated. Not just this fic but for all my fic especially Trouvaille which, guys, it's coming up next soon so watch for that one.**

 **Go ahead and leave me a long review about your feeeeelz, okay? Okaaaay! :D**


	20. Chapter 20: Love Memoirs

**You can stop crying now because here I am for somewhat of your Emison needs.**

 **I see that** _ **some**_ **of you guys, I won't name any names or anything, got emotional during the last chapter. It was a rollercoaster, right? I mean, one moment you're blushing because of that filth in the beginning, then you're down because of the cuddling afterwards, then you were over there tearing up because of the goodbye.**

 **Honestly...I think Marlene is to blame for that, somehow. Well, I don't know _how_ exactly but I like blaming her for things.**

 **-x-x-x-**

 _ ***Burns toast***_ **Damn you, Marlene.**

 _ ***Oversleeps and is late to class***_ **Thanks, Marlene.**

 _ ***Gets robbed at gunpoint***_ **Fucking Marlene…**

 **x-x-x-**

 **So, Alison taking "control" over Emily in their final goodbye? Not something some of you expected, eh? Hmmm.**

 **Did Ali take control? Noooo, there was some flip flopping I can assure you. You know how (or you may not know how) when directors film something and they show you a certain angle, an object, or a scenery, it's for a reason?**

 **What am I saying-of course you guys know, you're PLL fans, 98% of us are theorists.**

 **Well, you can say the same goes for writing. It's a magical touch, if you will. If a writer knows what they're doing, they can show you things in different lights without actually spelling it out for you. I showed you a brief scene of Alison being in control why? To show you how vulnerable Emily was. Throughout this entire fic Emily has been in complete control –even if it had some aggression to it- and she could have easily taken control of their last night together. It's not that she willingly chose to let Ali top from what you saw; with her psyche being shot, she didn't have the energy to be in control anymore. That's why you saw Emily, for example, rest on Alison afterwards with Alison in a position of almost protection. Some of you guys might have caught that upon reading it (pre-airport breakdown), some may have not. It's a-ok. You guys know I'm going to be throwing psychology** _ **somewhere**_ **in my work, so it is my job to open eyes along with writing such** _ **dirty**_ **fictions of literature ;)**

 **Here you go, 16 freaking thousand words just for you, baby.**

CHAPTER #20: Love Memoirs

 _Italics means thoughts, emphasized word or action._ **Bolded is a flashback.** (….) is an indication that a short time has passed. (_) is an indication that a long time has passed.

Alison closes her front door, making sure all the locks are locked before she drags her feet through her living room towards the stairs. The past few days have been overwhelming to say the least but her last hours with Emily really gutted her in an inexplicable way, especially seeing the fear within her when it was her time to leave: the expansion in size of her eyes, her jittery hands, the sudden sense of uneasiness and need to not be left alone. At that moment, Alison could only compare that scene between them two to an act of abandonment on her part.

A mother brings her child to a building of some sort, unbeknownst to the young child who thinks they're going on an errand run. They notice an unknown stranger talking to the mother and shrugs it off, continuing on with their made-up game they've created to play with their toy. The strange person then comes up to the child, grabs them by the arm and begins pulling them away from their mother. Not understanding what's going on as they are taken away by the stranger, the child yells for their mother standing and watching everything happening, not reacting or coming to the child's aid. The child then begins to kick and fuss as they lock eyes with their mother, tears now forming rapidly as they scream their mother's name. Watching her child get taken away, the mother shamefully bows her head and walks away, leaving the child to watch her abandon them. They choke on their struggling cries, fighting off the stranger as their screams become more frantic and dire, however, the mother doesn't turn around. She just keeps walking with the sounds of their child begging out for them echoing through the hallways.

Although, not as graphic as depicted, that's exactly what she feels just occurred at the airport. Emily wasn't kicking and screaming like a child but her eyes...all the intense emotions of fright and panic were smeared all over her face and Alison couldn't help but feel that she turned her back and abandoned her. Specifically now since she's knows that Emily is beginning to become tormented by her thoughts, she feels like she just gave her away to the darkness.

 _The concept alone was strong enough to make her sick._

Alison trudges up her stairs with her hands sliding over the wooden railings, feeling the stinging building up in the brim of her bottom eyelids all over again. She tried to stop herself as she ascended up the to the second floor but her last moments with Emily at the airport starts replaying over and over in her mind, causing her to let out a shaky breath.

" **Be safe, Ali,** _ **please**_ **. Promise me you'll be safe." Emily stares at her intently with her wide yet sagged brown eyes to accompany her frown, "I'm not here to protect you anymore so** _ **please**_ **, promise me you'll protect yourself at all times, please."**

 **Emily's hands fell and immediately reached for Alison's as she caught her glimpse once more with a shaky voice,** _ **"**_ **Please don't let me go.** _ **I-I-I-I**_ **can't do this." Emily begged her with her wide, teary eyes and unstable hands, "I can't do this.** _ **"**_

 **Wayne and Pam quickly step in upon seeing their daughter shaking, afraid that she was going to work herself into another episode in the airport. "Emily, what's the matter?" Wayne soothes his daughter's shoulders "What's wrong?"**

 **Emily ignores her parents' concerns as her eyes were still onto Alison in front of her. She squeezes her hand tightly as she tries to articulate her words but ends up choking on them from the overwhelming emotions that is sweeping her, "Alison, I...I-I...I need you,** _ **p-please**_ **."**

 **She bows her head as she looks down at their hands, biting her top lip as she did everything in her power to let Emily down as easy as she could, Alison sighs, "I can't go..." she painfully replies before she glanced back up at the brunette with tears resting in the brim of her eyes, "I'm so sorry. I wish I could..."**

"You just got home?"

The deep voice snaps Alison out of her looping thoughts, turning her around to notice Jason standing right behind her. She immediately wipes her face upon seeing her brother, not wanting him to see her crying.

"Yeah," she sniffled as she kept her eyes on the floor, avoiding his questionable stare, "Emily's parents dropped me off."

Jason gives out a single-headed nod, observing his sister's stance and overall form before he squints his eyes. "Did Emily stay the night? Over here?"

Alison shakes her head, crossing her arms across her chest as she kept her red eyes to herself, "Not really the night. She was here for a few hours."

Jason skeptically glanced over Alison up and down before he took in a deep breath, crossing his arms as well, "With the shit that's been happening here as of lately, I don't find sleep anymore. I have to be up to make sure nothing happens to you." Alison's eyes slowly trail up to match her brother's for the first time since she's seen him. She sees within that he was serious with his role of being her protector and it felt kind of foreign to her. Their relationship wasn't the closest in comparison to the average brother and sister bond because of their past rift but hearing him say he doesn't sleep in order to watch over her, it made her feel… _valued_.

"And when I went outside, I saw a car parked out in the front and had no idea who it belonged to." Jason continues on, shaking his head as bit the inside of his bottom lip, "I never saw Emily come inside."

"Well…She did." Alison drops her eyes once again, "I brought her in."

" _Hmph_." Jason narrows his sights on his sister with a slight tilt of his head. The short response makes Alison glimpse back up, noticing how Jason was looking down at her with the look of uncertainty that she knew very well.

"What?" she asks, fidgeting in her posture as she becomes anxious under Jason scrutiny.

"Nothing, it's just….I was curious to who was in your room, that's all." Jason looks down at the hardwood floor underneath his feet and takes a slow step in the direction of Alison, causing her to become even more apprehensive. "If you have people coming in and out the house in the middle of the night, I want to know who the hell they are because..." he lifts up his arm and points to her room, holding Alison's gaze with his imperceptibly intimidating stare back, "…I almost broke down that fucking door."

Alison stops breathing when she hears the words Jason had just utter to her. Trying not to be entirely obvious, Alison attempts to uphold her current facial expression but her sudden nerves were beginning to get the best of her with the picked up speed of her heart. She knew if she continued to stay silent, it would make her look guilty of something so she clears her throat to respond back to her brother's plight, just in-case they weren't on the same page.

" _What? W-why would you do that?_ "

 **Jason sits on the steps of his family's back porch as he stared, glued to his phone in one hand and a drink in the other. With just the intention of getting his lips wet with the alcoholic beverage, Jason scrolls through the google web searches as he relaxes outside in the dead of the night.**

 **Google: Wren Kingston**

 _ **About 440,000 results (0.53 seconds)**_

 **Wren Kingston Aka Charles Dilaurentis Arrested.**

 **Meet The Tyrant of Rosewood's Community.**

 **Who Is Wren Kingston?**

 **DiLaurentis Cover Up?**

 **Wren Kingston Is Really Charles DiLaurentis Who Is Really A.**

 **What Is Going On In Rosewood?**

 **With the news breaking about A's identity, the media has been in a frenzy with trying to be the first station with the inside scoop. Reporters from all over the country have flown into town to do interviews and stake outside houses and buildings. Fortunately, with the upper-hands from the Rosewood PD, they've stopped them from camping in their yards overnight. However, that will not stop them from setting up at 6am to get the story they need. Jason checks out the links his search provided, trying to wrap his head around the concept that he can't stomach.**

 **Wren, a guy he's seen numerous of times with Melissa, was actually his older brother, Charlie. Someone that he's shook hands with, held a few conversations, this entire time, he was looking into not only the face of his long lost sibling but also his sister's tormentor. The same guy who was seconds away from denoting a bomb and wiping out the entire lot, turning Alison into dust within that same instant. At that moment, with the thought fully seeping into his head, Jason did everything in his power not to hurl his phone into the side of his house. His blood was boiling and he was no longer able to sit still with his mind on high activity. He pockets his phone, grabs his bottle, and walks back inside the house. Everything he knew was a huge lie. From his neighbor being his biological father to being brainwashed that his brother was an imaginary friend, Jason felt overwhelmed with all kinds of emotions: mostly of anger, hurt, and disgust. As he walked through the living room, deciding to do a quick peek out the window to see if the same patrol car was still surveying or if they've changed shifts, Jason notices a silver Camry parked by their sidewalk. Knowing his neighbors and the vehicles they drive, this particular Camry did not register to him as a car he knew. His eyes glance back at the officer on duty for a moment before he pulls away from the window and looks into the direction the stairs.**

 _ **Does Alison have someone over?**_

 **He digs into his pocket for his phone and checks the time on the lock screen.**

 _ **At three in the morning?**_

 **He tries to recall any event of Alison telling him or their father that she was going to have company over or perhaps a sleepover but no such memory came to mind.** _ **So who the hell's Camry is that?**_ **Jason ponders to himself quietly.**

…

 **Walking up the stairs as noiselessly and cautious as he could, Jason reaches the second floor and creeps towards Alison's closed room. In the midst of sneaking, he hears a faint yet muffled noise behind Alison's door. He instantly stops in his tracks, not daring to move, as he processes what he just heard.**

 _ **Was that whispering?**_

 **He waits to hear the sound again, wanting confirmation that someone else was inside their house and was, in-fact, in Alison's room. After everything they've went through, Kenneth has made it** _ **very**_ **clear as to what his new set of rules were. One of the main ones were to always check with him for everything. Anything that involved either of them leaving the house, he wanted a full itinerary of where they were going, who they were going with, the times to and from, and everything else in-between. The same rule applied for whoever was coming over. For the most part, their house was pretty much an open door policy. Anyone could come in and out as they pleased. However, in today's world, that policy has been shredded into a million of confetti-like pieces with Kenneth having to oversee and approve who could come to his house. Curfew? Heavily enforced. If not permitted for a sleepover, there's a cut off time for visitors allowed at his home. As much as it sounds like they're in a lockdown, Jason doesn't blame his father for bringing down the hammer. He admits that if Kenneth didn't, he certainly would have. Standing in the middle of the dark upstairs hallway, Jason listens hard for another trace of sound just to make sure he wasn't hearing-**

" _ **Fuuuuck. Oh my god…"**_

 **Jason's eyes nearly bulge out of his head when he hears a faded sound of moaning coming from Alison's room. He stands frozen in place as his brain moves a mile a minute, trying to understand what he** _ **knows**_ **he heard.**

 _ **Camry….Alison….moaning?!**_

 **Just then, the pieces clicked together. Everything made sense. Late night when nobody would be able to see, the car parked outside, not being suspected by the cop on guard…**

 _ **Fucking Lorenzo. That son of a bitch!**_

 **Jason's body begins heating up with rage as he imagines Lorenzo taking advantage of Alison. A grown man who is supposed to serve and protect is having sex with** _ **his**_ **sister in** _ **his**_ **house? That concept didn't fly at all by Jason one bit as he marches towards Alison's room. He started imagining what he was going to observe opening that door, seeing the smug bastard's face on top of Alison's bare body. He knew he was going to go in there, beat Lorenzo's ass, have him stripped of his badge and sent to jail all within the same night and he was ready to do it.**

"What stopped you from barging in?" Alison asks as she shifts uncomfortably, looking at Jason with low, submissive eyes as she listens to him reminiscence on his version of her and Emily's last night together.

Jason calms himself down from the emotions he regained after reliving his night. He cocks his head at the blonde and lets out a deep breath, "I heard you call out a name…"

 **As Jason approached the door, ready to use his shoulder to bust the door out of its frame, another sound escapes from the opposite side, making him halt.**

" **Don't stop….** _ **Don't stop, Emily.**_ **"**

 **Jason eyes dart out in front of him in confusion to what he was hearing as he rested his hand on the locked door handle.**

 _ **Emily?**_

"At first I was like, _Emily?_ " Jason scrunches up his face as in bewilderment, trying to wrap his mind around why Alison and Emily would be doing what they were in secrecy, "Then that's when it dawned on me…. _Emily."_ Jason shakes his head, then realizing that Emily was not like the other girls in Alison's circle of friends. He stares at his little sister in deep thought, not knowing what to say, how to say it, or how to even bring it up. "Alison, did she force you to-"

" _No._ " Alison blatantly cuts him off in disgust, loathing the idea that Jason would think that Emily would force her into doing sexual activities, "She would never force me to do anything. If I do something…" the blonde trails off with the lowering of her eyes, "it's because I wanted to."

"You wanted to have sex with _Emily?_ " Jason spits out in a haze of disorientation. The idea of Alison having sex was already overwhelming to think about and, although he's glad it wasn't Lorenzo, Emily's name being thrown into the mix doesn't help dilute the situation at hand. "Alison, _since when?_ "

" _I love her, Jason_." Alison blurts out, impatiently. She looks up at her brother with her lips that tugged down at the corners and dejected eyes that almost starting tearing up again. Saying it, actually saying it out loud instead of it being in an thought, Alison feels an unexpected weight lifted off of her. Although her friends and therapist knew somewhat about their relationship, Alison never actually came out and told anyone about her true feelings towards Emily. And out of all people, she would have never expected the first person to find out was going to be her brother.

" _Love?_ Since when have you been gay?" Jason brings his eyebrows together with his mouth curled up as he gawks at Alison in front of him, continuing to expresses his confusion as he waves his hand up and down at Alison, dismissively, "Just now?"

"This isn't some _experiment_ , something I decided to try because I never done it before." Alison jumps back at Jason with her newfound irritation for his lack of willingness to understand, "It's not like the candy store where I'm just grabbing random sweets to taste just because I feel like it and want to try something new. This is a something that has been growing over time." Although, the whole concept is new to her as well, Alison wouldn't consider herself fully gay. Or at least that's how she calls it in her head. She has romantic feelings for Emily and that's it. The thought of her chasing after another girl is something she couldn't even fathom because in that playing field, she only has eyes for Emily. _Maybe she is bisexual?_ Maybe she's straight but is gay for Emily? This part of understanding herself is something she has yet came to grips with because she's never actually sat down and thought about it.

"How long has this been going on between you two?

Alison sighs, looking past Jason as she bites the corner of her bottom lip, "…Over the course of almost three years."

" _You guys have been sexual for three years?"_ Jason gasps with wide eyes at Alison's response, both internally and externally surprised that he didn't catch onto this relationship sooner.

"No, _Jason._ " Alison lets out an exasperated scoffs, rolling her eyes as she feels her energy literally draining out of her. If anything, she _really_ didn't want to have a dialogue of such caliber with her older brother. Never really establishing their bond early on, things like talking about sex were left on the table for their parents to handle. However, seeing the predicament they're in, she had no choice but to answer his questions, especially if she wanted to set the record straight. "We…" she sighs, trying to find her words, "We haven't been… _active_ until a few months ago."

Jason groans, dropping his head as he runs his hand through his short ash blonde hair, "Dad's not gonna go for this." he glances back up at Alison with a nod of affirmation, "You know that, right?"

"As much as I want to jump out of a window right now and hope that I land on my _neck_ to stop us from continuing this, I would rather have this conversation with you instead of dad." Alison replies back with a hint of sternness in her voice. Looking into his green eyes, Alison's face softens as she shakes head, dropping her arms down beside her, " _You're my brother._ " she begs, "You're the only person I have left to talk about things like this."

Jason clenches his jaw as he holds eye contact with Alison. The reality hits him from a different perspective than before. Even though he must take on the role of protecting Alison, making sure she stays safe, he has to embody the role of being there for her in a way a sibling should when there are no parents around. Hearing her say her last words, his body relaxes and his frame of mind changes.

They only have each other.

They've _always_ only had each other.

And if they want to survive, they need to take care of one another from now on instead of being enemies.

"Okay…" Jason slowly nods his head, "Let's talk."

* * *

Emily stands in the kitchen of her aunt's house, cutting herself some slices of smoked, honey ham that her aunt cooked yesterday for dinner. The brunette hums to herself a melody of a song she's been hearing on the radio that has gotten stuck in her head as she takes her ham and places them on top of her bread slices, covered in the condiments of her choosing.

" _Tonight…_ We are young. So let's set the world on _fire_! We can burn _brighter_ than the _suuuuuun_. _Toniiight…_ We are yo-"

" _BOO!"_

Emily let's out a shriek, her body jerking under the hands shoved against her sides, causing her to instantly turn around with the knife gripped tightly in her palm, ready to be used as a weapon.

" _WoahwoahWOAH!"_ the male hollers out in shock, using his reflexes to grab onto Emily's wrist, preventing her from thrusting the knife into his chest. "It's just me, Em! _Relax!_ "

Emily wild eyes lock onto the surprise guest as she breathes harshly through her mouth, heaving her chest up and down with her back pushed against the counter. She shakes with the sharp knife in her gasp as the words the male in front of her were saying actually starting coming out more clearly from her instant panicked haze.

" _It's just me, Emily. Let go of the knife."_

She blinks several times before she slowly dropped her arm, finally realizing that she was not being attacked but only innocently surprised by her cousin.

"How the hell are you going to scare someone when they have a knife in their hand, you dumbass." a young female walks into the kitchen with a few grocery bags as she walks into the scene of her brother almost getting stabbed by Emily.

"I'm sorry." the male cousin drops his tone as he lets go of Emily's wrist, trying to get his heart rate back in order, "I didn't think that through."

Emily slowly nods her head, keeping her eyes low before she turned back around to face the sandwich she was making, "I'm…I'm sorry too…" she takes a hanging strand of her hair and pushes it behind her ear. Putting her palms on the kitchen counter, she notices her hands were trembling so she balls them into fists so no one else would see.

Putting away the things they brought at the store, Emily's female cousin speaks up to change the direction of attention, "So, Em, there's this get together happening tonight. Food, drinks, music, hot people...you should come and take some ease off. You know, relax and treat yourself."

"I really don't want to go outside more than I have to…" Emily keeps her head down as she finishes up her sandwich creation. She takes her condiments and sauces, puts them back where they belong and washes off the same knife she almost killed her cousin with. "Besides, I don't know any of those people."

"But you can get to know them. Probably find someone you like, you know, someone to talk to when we're not around."

"No offense but I'm only here for less than a month. I don't want to get to know anyone here." dusting off her hands, Emily grabs her plate with her snack and an unopened bottle of water and walks out the kitchen in route to the bedroom she was staying in. She leaves the siblings by themselves to quietly glance at each other with the failed attempt to get Emily to be comfortable and social during her stay.

"She almost stabbed me." the male cousin breathes out with his hands gripping the back of a chair placed at their kitchen bar. His heart still racing from the near death experience and the fear in Emily's eyes as if she had no idea who he was. The realization of his cousin's trauma from what she went through starts seeping into his mind, making him think twice about everything considering her.

"Shame." his sister pulls him out of his small cloud of thought with a disappointing headshake, "She should have done it when she had the chance."

…

Getting situated in her stay in the guest room, Emily sits herself on the bed with the plate in her lap and opened bottle in her hand, taking a sip before she opens her phone to scroll mindlessly through the apps she has. Still being a huge developing story all over the world, everywhere she goes on the internet people are either talking about Charles or talking about the girls. Because of this, Emily had to block herself from going on certain platforms that were advertising the case.

 _Which was virtually every social media and internet browsing app that she had._

Ever since she moved out to Texas, she has stayed as far as she could away from learning any new developments about Charles. Even making the clear demand of not wanting to leave the house because she was not _Emily, the new girl who is visiting her cousins._ No. She is _Emily Fields_ , virtually a celebrity hailing straight out of Rosewood. Even if she did step foot outside and people found out where she was, she would be hounded by hordes of people taking videos and pictures of her. To prevent that from happening, she isolated herself inside of her Aunt's house. Even in isolation she would sometimes get caught off-guard when she would listen to the radio and the hosting DJs talk about current events. She would have to switch the station before they would start gossiping about it. Because that's all everything is right now. _Gossip_. People throwing their opinions on what they think they know but have not the slightest idea.

Just then, Emily's laptop begins ringing, signaling her that someone was trying to reach her with a Skype video call. The brunette instantly dusts the crumbs from her sandwich off her hands and preps herself by fixing her tank and fluffing her hair to the side. Before the call had a chance to be missed, Emily accepts the connection and tilts her screen back so the built-in camera can catch her at a good angle.

" _Hey_ ," Emily smiles sweetly as she look at the face of her caller.

" _Hey, Emily._ " Alison sings back with a smile of her own as she gets herself comfortable in her bed. Seeing that it was getting late with it being already past 10 her time, she figured to call Emily before she fell asleep since she knew Emily was only one hour behind her.

"Long time, no see."

" _I know._ Look how much you've grown since the last time I've seen you." Alison gasps tauntingly, "You even have a sandwich! _That's new!_ "

Emily coly bows her head with a shy smile as she looks down at her plate in her lap, "It's turkey and ham sandwich." her eyes float back up to the screen where she sees Alison grinning ever so gracefully.

"Well, it looks _delicious_. I'm kinda jealous you didn't make me one." Alison pouts a convincing frown as she continues to tease the brunette.

Emily runs a hand through her hair before she tilted her head to the side, staring at Alison's light and easy face through her computer screen. "…I miss you so much."

"I miss you too." Alison's bright smile fades a few shades to a much softer hold, "Things aren't the same here without your _killer smile_ and _luscious hair_ bouncing around."

Upon hearing the emphasis in her words, Emily's smile fades also but more strained and uneasy. The complimentary praises were to be taken positively but the choice of words still stung Emily a bit. "You know, I heard that he-"

"No." Alison cuts Emily off with a firm headshake before she had the chance to finish her sentence. "We're not going to talk about him or anything dealing with that side of things. The only topics we are going to stay on is either about _you_ , _me_ , or _us_."

For a moment in time, she felt like she was back in high school when she and Alison were in class together before she had disappeared. All those times when Alison would say something endearing, causing Emily to blush and turn away from her concentrated eyes. Even though they are much older now, she can't help but feel like a little girl again. "I'd like that…" Emily bashfully beams as she plays with a strand of hair, "talking about us. We can stay on that topic for a while"

Alison gazes back at Emily staring at her with a smile creeping on her face, still getting used to the concept of them as an actual couple. " _We can_."

And...she likes it.

* * *

Shaking her towel to dry her hair after she's taken a shower, Emily grabs her clothes, throws them in her hamper and walks into her room with a heavy sigh escaping her lips.

"What are your plans for tonight?"

"I'm fucking exhausted." Emily groans as she heaves her body onto her bed to lay on her back, closing her eyes, "My day was horrible and I just want to roll over and die but I gotta go into work in about an hour and a half."

"You can't die yet. We haven't even taken Dr. Keltner's exam. Hm! Speaking of...I need you to give me her assignment because I'm gonna copy off of you."

Emily raises herself of the bed as she narrows her eyes at her roommate, "Copy off _me?_ I was going to copy off _you._ I thought you did it."

"….. _Well, fuck_ …now we're screwed." The small bedroom stays quiet for a brief moment as Emily's female roommate facepalms with a headshake, "I thought we had a system going and now you're fucking it up and shit. How am I supposed to pass that class?"

"You can start by actually _doing_ your work and stop depending on me before you get us both kicked out, _Lacey_." Emily rests her head back into her pillow and stares up at their room ceiling.

"Well _excuse me_ , Ms. I-abide-by-the-rules." Lacey scoffs with a dramatic neck roll right as her phone goes off with a received text. She reaches over and grabs her phone on the charger and checks the screen before she rips her phone off the chord and hops off her bed parallel to Emily's, " _Welp_. Gotta blast."

"Wait, where are you going?" Emily sits up as she watches her friend/roommate throw on her cropped leather jacket, "You just got here."

"And now I'm just leaving." Lacey palms her iPhone, snatches her keys off the computer desk table and quick steps to the door, " _Chao_." she blows a kiss to Emily and closes the door behind her, leaving Emily by herself in the room. With the kind of day she was having, half of her wanted to be alone but the other half of her wanted to talk to someone who wasn't going to set her off. Knowing how well she gets along with her roommate, she thought she could vent to her to get the buildup she has in her chest out but now she has no one. Especially since her other two dorm mates are nowhere to be found. Groaning loudly once again, Emily falls back into her mattress and rubs her face, tiredly. She rolls over and grabs her phone across from her on the bed and checks the time. Having only a small amount of time before she needed to be at her job, Emily decides that she should take a quick catnap. Maybe she'll feel better if she just rested her eyes.

…

Taking orders from the patrons standing at her bar, Emily mixes and shakes the drinks accordingly as she does effortlessly. With the transition from working at _The Brew,_ preparing coffee to working at _Moonshadows Malibu,_ serving both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, Emily would say she has a pretty good handle at her job that she has on the side apart from classes.

" _Emily!"_

But is she enjoying her job? That's the real question.

"Where the hell is my Cadillac Margarita?" a female coworker of Emily's walks up to the empty bar with her eyes ready to shoot darts, "You're going to have people wait all day for their drinks?"

Emily looks at the worker sideways with her brows furrowed, not understanding what she was barking at her, "I didn't get an order for a Cadillac Margarita."

"I gave you the slip for it like 10 minutes ago."

"No, you didn't. I haven't gotten anything from you."

"So, what, You're calling me a _liar?_ " the bronzed 23 year old female squints her eyes at Emily as she leaned into the bar counter, making sure her voice was down from close ears.

"Well, there is a lot of things I would like to call you." Emily mutters with an attitude as she turns her back to her coworker, getting the drinks required to make the needed cocktail.

"I gave you the fucking tab 10 minutes ago. You would have seen it if you weren't flirting with the customers." Ignoring the jab that she knew was deliberately made to get her angry, Emily turns back around to see the assumed order pulled off the inner bar counter and into the girl's hand, waving it around with a sense of arrogance. Emily stops in her movements and stares at the slip that she knew wasn't there just a moment ago.

"You just put that there because I haven't moved in the last 20 minutes and that was _not_ there before _._ " Emily defends herself with her mouth opened in confusion as she slowly walks to the counter with the mixers in her hand.

"Just make me the damn drink, Fields." the coworker drops her voice dangerously as she locked her narrowed green eyes with Emily's, "Not everyone has all day for you to process things needed to do your job."

About to retaliate with a comeback of her own, Emily stops the words from leaving her mouth with the clenching of her jaw. She takes a deep breath and forces a smile at the girl, trying everything in her power to remain civil while she's around paying customers. " _Yes, Vanessa_." she replies through her gritted teeth. "Right away."

Vanessa looks at Emily up and down before she pushes herself off the counter and walks away from the bar to her next location. Waiting for her to be out of sight, Emily drops her smile to a scowl as she prepares the drink she was never told to do.

 _Four more hours….all you have is four more hours, Emily._

…

Sitting in the back as she munches on some fries during her break, Emily sits with two other male coworkers as they enjoy a good, light-hearted conversation.

"Now let me ask this." Derek, one of the male coworkers, pulls up a chair to the table as he opens a person sized bag of some Lays chips, "Are you still considered naked even if you're wearing socks?"

"Just socks?" Emily questions as she dips her fries in her side of ketchup.

"Just socks."

"Well, how high are the socks?" Miles, the second male coworker, leans back into his chair as he relaxes with the last few minutes of a break he has left.

"Socks in general. Like ankle socks."

" _I mean_ …" Miles scrunches up his face and bounces his head from side to side as he looks out into the distance, "technically not. Socks are considered clothing so if you're wearing them, you're not fully naked."

"I say if you're showing at least 95% of your skin and your intimate parts are showing then you're naked." Emily replies with her opinion, talking through one side of her mouth as she chewed, "Now if you have no clothing at all, then you're considered nude. But the question is why would you want to wear them? I wouldn't mind if she was wearing socks. _Knee highs only, though_." Emily smirks suggestively with a wink.

Derek and Miles chuckle, agreeing completely with Emily's preference while Derek reaches for a dangling fry off Emily's plate and throws it into his mouth, "My girl and I got into this huge argument because I left my watch on when we had sex. Apparently I wasn't naked enough for her."

"I can only imagine how she feels about condoms." Miles grimaces, causing Emily to giggle at his witty comeback.

"I don't know…. I mean, I wouldn't mind." Emily shrugs indifferently as she scoots out of her chair and leaves the table, heading towards the mini sink they had across the room, "I think it's sexy if the other person is wearing light jewelry like a necklace during sex."

"Why would you want to wear jewelry while you're having sex? So it can get caught in someone's hair?" the voice responding back to Emily's comment wasn't at all manly but feminine, instantly telling Emily that it wasn't Miles or Derek that replied but another coworker that she did not want to hear the voice of let alone be in the same closed off room as her.

Once again, it's Vanessa. Emily didn't have to look at her to confirm because she already knew. Only one person at that job could make her blood pressure rise at the mere moment of her stepping into the same breathing space. Vanessa is a California native and has been working at _Moonshadows Malibu_ about the same time Emily has been. What was the difference between them? Emily applied and was hired for the job whereas Vanessa was given the job because of her family's background. Coming from a very wealthy family, she managed to get a job at the family owned establishment. That's right. _Moonshadows Malibu_ , the tiki-themed hotspot perched over the Pacific Ocean, virtually belongs to her and her family's name. All her life, everything was given to her because she is "daddy's little girl" and the fact that she's physically attractive, you could bet that she gets whatever she pleases from just about anyone. Majority of the male employees quickly took a liking to her as well as the customers. With her long brown hair and perky breasts that she conveniently would show with her low cut shirts, she always found herself getting tipped extra being a waitress and sometimes a bartender.

Was she always battling with Emily? No.

Actually, they got along pretty well in the beginning. Even sharing a few inside jokes and deep laughter that would make Emily think about it randomly in the day just start laughing all over again. That is, until, some animosity came between them. Finding Emily one of the more attractive coworkers at the workplace, Vanessa started testing the waters to see if anything could transpire between them. When Emily politely rejected, Vanessa didn't see it as a no but yet more as a challenge. That miscommunication then caused issues when Emily felt that Vanessa was pushing her boundaries. Although she didn't physically date anyone with the city lines, Emily was 100% committed to Alison with their long distanced relationship and didn't want anything more than a work-related affiliation with Vanessa. Fast forward, with someone who doesn't take the term"no" lightly, when words were exchanged between the two, it has been a fast downwards spiral ever since with Vanessa switching up her attitude towards the brunette. It would now only take seconds from things to go from cordial to disrespectful because of the bad blood. A couple of the other coworkers picked up on the tension here and there but nobody really questioned, not wanting to get into their business.

"Ok, Vanessa. lemme ask you." Derek changes his sights onto the new addition to the break room, "Are you still considered naked if you were wearing nothing but socks?"

"No, because you still have something covering a part of your body." Vanessa walks over to the refrigerator right next to Emily who keeps her eyes down and tries to ignore Vanessa's presence as she washed her plate.

"Ok so you and Miles say no but Emily says you are." Derek notes.

"Especially if you're wearing knee-highs." Miles adds in with a smile, gawking over at Emily with his eyebrows rising up and down to make her smile a bit.

Vanessa scoffs, unimpressed, as she searches through the fridge for her snack, "Of course, she would think that."

Emily bites her bottom lip as she tries to control herself from that smart remark, "Knee-high socks _are_ sexy." Emily keeps her voice leveled as she dries her plate, still with her eyes down, "I'm sorry that you are unexciting with whoever you jump into bed with."

Miles and Derek begin chuckling at Emily's comeback, believing that it was just some friendly back and forth with a few taunting jabs here and there. Being one-upped and laughed at, Vanessa fakes laughter as she closes the fridge door and palms the metal fork accompanying her food in a particular fashion. The corner of Emily's eyes catches how Vanessa was grasping her fork, causing her to turn her head up at the brunette standing next to her.

" _Bitch_ , if you try anything with that fork, I'm kicking your ass." Emily's tone becomes dead serious as she steps up and stares Vanessa down. Miles and Derek's laughter comes to a screeching halt as the energy in the room drastically changed with Emily's challenging voice, "Try me. Do something with that fork and see if you don't end up on this floor."

"I _fucking_ _wish_ you would touch me, Emily and see if I don't ruin your entire _life_." Vanessa growls back as she sizes up Emily, holding her stance as her and the brunette stand face to face, "I'll have you blackballed in this city so quickly, you'll be sucking dick for money."

" _You fucking_ -" Emily forcefully shoves Vanessa out of her face, prompting Derek and Miles to jump out of their chairs and rush over to the two girls, each one of them grabbing and separating the other. " _Say one more thing to me._ " Emily continues on as Derek's strong arms wrapped around her upper body, preventing her from moving her arms and slipping out of his hold, "Say one more thing to me and it'll be the last thing you'll ever say. I promise you that."

" _Oh, I'm so fucking scared of you._ " Vanessa mocks with a faked emotion of terror as Miles pulls her away to prevent a fight from breaking out.

Just then, the manager walks into the break room, oblivious to everything going on, "Hey guys, I need-"

"You should be, _bitch!_ " Emily spits out before she tries to unwrap Derek's arms from around her, "Get the hell off me, Derek. _Get off me!_ "

Being cut off mid Emily's aggressive tone, the manager's mouth drops as he runs over to Emily resisting Derek's bear hold from behind, trying to claw her way out.

"Emily, what the hell!"

"No!" Emily pants out, breathlessly as she finally is released from Derek grasp, stumbling out forward, almost running into her manager. "She's been giving me hell for the past _month and a half_ and I've had it. _I've had it, Chad!_ " Emily's anger gets the best of her as her blood boils over and mouth runs with no energy to stop it, "And now she wants to grab a fork like she wanted to stab me with it?! For what! _For what?!_ Because I didn't want to fuck you?!" Emily yells out as she shoots a glance at Vanessa standing on the other side of the room with Miles standing in front of her as a blockade. "Daddy's little princess doesn't like the word _no_ so she goes and makes my job harder every fucking day?!

" _Emily."_

"I've dealt with things bigger than you, bitch!" she calls out with her eyes now locked with the other brunette as she wildly points in her direction, _"Way bigger than you!"_

" _Emily!"_ Chad grabs onto Emily's shoulders to keep her still, "Take the rest of the day off!"

"What?" Emily shakes him off as she readjusts her clothing with her shaky hands, "So I won't get paid? _No, fuck that_. I'm finishing my damn shift."

"That's not a suggestion, that's an order." Chad puts his foot down as he glares at the brunette, not enjoying her random and violent outburst that could probably be heard on the main floor where everyone ate, "Clock out. You're done for the day."

" _Are you fucking shitting me right now?_ " Emily huffs as she cocks her head to the side, unbelieving what she's hearing.

" _Just. Go._ "

Emily stares at Chad within the now eerily silent room that Emily's heavy breathing was the only thing could be heard. Her eyes drift past her manager to Vanessa who smugly waves her out the door. Telling everyone what Vanessa has been doing to her and how she's purposely been trying to get a rise out of her, Emily still stands flabbergasted that she's the one being asked to leave. However, not wanting to be in the room anymore, Emily storms out, pushing her way out the doors only to be greeted with other employees who quickly turn their heads to avoid her glaring stares, most likely hearing the outburst from the opposite side. Heading all the way to her vehicle, Emily rips open her car door and throws herself inside, slamming the door shut as her entire body shook with rage. She stares at the steering wheel, trying to control her breathing as she hears her psychiatrist's voice in her head, reminding her to breathe slowly and count down from ten. However, with very second passing by, Emily thinks of the blowup and gets angry all over again. She grits her teeth and begins wailing, striking the steering wheel in front of her with all the force in her body to release some of her pint of anger before she gripped it tightly in her hands, still heaving out quick and heavy breaths that she just couldn't control.

…

Unlocking her dorm door, Emily pushes open the front door, gaining her two of her three roommates in the living room to jump up at her sudden appearance.

"Em-Emily! Hey!" Jasmine pipes out with her stuttering mouth and wide eyes as she hops off the couch, "W-what are you doing back so early?"

"They fucking kicked me out." Emily mutters darkly as she shoves the door closed behind her, not even bothering to lock it.

" _What?"_ Lacey turns around in surprise, watching Emily ignore them and head straight to their room. With only seconds later, a loud slam sounds from the bedroom, causing Lacey and Jasmine to share worried glances with each other.

Kicking her shoes off, not caring where they landed, Emily tosses herself face down into her bed and pants into her pillow, still fuming with the same amount of heat that she had when she was in the parking lot of her job.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Lacey's head slowly emerges from behind the door and sees Emily laying in her bed, "You okay, Em?"

"Get out, please." Emily's voice comes out muffled from her face being inside her pillow, "I don't want to see anyone."

"You can-"

" _Just please get out!"_

Doing what she's ordered, Lacey backs out of the room and gently closes the door to leave Emily to be by herself. Emily knows how she gets, how the outbursts can be and the only thing she wants in life at that very moment is to be alone because, with anyone else in the equation, there might be a chance that she'll say something or do something that she'll regret once everything blows over.

She just needs to be unaccompanied.

For one second.

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Why can't they understand that she's not in the mood to be talked to?

Can't they see it or are they just trying to push her completely over the edge?

 _Knock. Knock. Knock._

Flailing her way out of bed with now an annoyed attitude on top of everything, Emily nearly trips on her thrown shoe as she storms her way to her door, getting ready to verbally unleash whoever was on the other side of it.

"I JUST WANT TO BE A-FUCKING-LONE FOR _10 MINUTES!_ " she swings open the door, allowing it to crash into the wall behind it, "I DON'T WANT TO SEE ANYBO-"

Emily virtually chokes on her words as her eyes are met with a much softer set of blues. Her face drops on sight as Alison looks back at her with an extremely somber and worried face to the version of Emily that she was just greeted by.

"You...You're-you're not real." Emily whispers with a subtle shake of her head, stuck in a Medusa-like hold with the blonde in front of her. "This is not real. This isn't real-you're not real."

" _Emily_ …." Alison takes in Emily's overall appearance with distraught as she takes a slow step towards her. Emily immediately jumps back, placing her finger in the air as she continues to mumble to herself, not believing the altered reality in front of her. The fabricated images she knows her brain is playing on her once again.

"This isn't real. You're not really here."

"She's real, Emily." Lacey softly calls out behind Alison as her and their two other roommates stand in the hallway, watching Emily's reaction to her girlfriend being there at their dorm.

"Alison is really here!" Yaris, the third and last roommate, tries to hold back her tears as she records the whole surprise, being moved by Emily's interaction with Alison. "We knew how much you missed her and how long it's been since you've seen each other so we got in contact with her and flew her in for the weekend for a surprise."

Alison cautiously walks up to Emily who keeps backing up until she hits the edge of her bed, almost paralyzed at what's happening because she knew it couldn't be true. _It couldn't be._ Alison reaches out and holds Emily's face in her hands, caressing her thumbs on her hot cheeks. Upon feeling the skin to skin contact of Alison's touch, Emily shakes with her eyes widening as large as could be and immediately crumbles, crying into her hands because it wasn't altered. This wasn't her mind playing games. Alison was really there. Alison was really there in front of her.

The roommates observing on begin to cry and laugh at the sweetness of Emily's response as Emily swiftly pulls Alison into her and tightly holds her for a hug. " _Oh my god_ …" Emily trembles with her voice quivering through her weeping, " _Oh my god_."

Alison's tears escape her eyes as well as she held the side of Emily's head against her chest, "I've missed you so much that when your roommates contacted me, I cleared up everything I had this weekend just to come and see you."

Emily began to sob more than she would have liked as she took in the realization of Alison being there. Just processing the information was overwhelming because she felt as if she was in a tailspin, in almost a surreal environment. Alison turns her head around to look at the three girls by the door and gives them a small head nod, silently thanking them and that she has Emily. The girls catch the signal and begin to walk away, wiping their eyes as Lacey walks up to the door and closes it to give the girls some privacy.

"Emily, what's wrong?" Alison gently pulls Emily's head off her chest so she could see and read her red and puffy face, stained with tears, "Why are you so angry?"

A strained noise rumbles from Emily's throat as she tried to blink away her tears that made it hard to get a clear vision of Alison in front of her. "God, I needed you today." Emily hiccups, keeping her arms still wrapped around Alison's waist, "I left you messages, voicemails, and everything."

"I know, baby, I know. But I'm here with you now. _That's all that matters_." she leads Emily to her side of the room, sitting her down on her bed as she smoothed Emily's hair back in a nurturing and supportive way as the brunette began wheezing from the overwhelming range of emotions she's experiencing. "I need you to breathe with me, okay?" Alison holds both of Emily's hands inside hers as she adjusted herself comfortably, "Come on, what did Dr. Reiner show you? Breathe slowly and count down from ten."

"It…it doesn't w-work." Emily stutters as she tries to find her voice through her heavy breathing.

"Yes it will, yes it will." Alison comforts her with a lift of Emily's chin, allowing more air to enter her instead of having her head bowing down to her chest. She holds onto Emily's hands once again and nods her head with assurance, "Do it with me. Okay? Breathe in," she takes a deep breath in, waiting for Emily to mock her instructions. "Now breathe out." she and Emily let out a long exhale in unison with Emily's eyes wilting with sadness, "Ten. You got it. Breathe in, breathe out. Nine. Breathe in, breathe out. Eight." Alison continues this process with Emily until they reach down to zero. Doing the technique, Alison notices how visibly calmer Emily has gotten to the point of a conversation being able to be made. "I'll tell you what. If you tell me what's going on….I'll give you the gifts I brought for you."

Emily's face lighten up a shade as a very soft smile shows itself within the corners of Emily's lips, "You brought me gifts?"

"Did I buy you gifts?" Alison scoffs, side-eyeing Emily with an arched eyebrow, "You think I'm going to show up after almost two years of not seeing you and come empty handed? I thought you knew me better than that."

Emily smiles becomes more apparent with her eyes dropping down to their hands on top of Alison's lap, feeling physically soothed by Alison's calm and patient demeanor, "You didn't have to do that…"

"But I wanted to because you deserve it." Alison responds back as she bowed her head down to find Emily's eyes, reaching up to caress Emily's cheek with her warm hands, "Now…tell me what's going on."

Jasmine removes her ear from against the door and leaves from listening in as much and walks back towards the living room where everyone collected, "You know, we could have had better timing with Alison coming but at the same time….we couldn't have had better timing with Alison coming." Jasmine throws herself onto the couch next to Yaris, putting her head on top of her lap, "Emily was two seconds from ripping this dorm apart."

Yaris nods her head in agreement as she crunches on an Oreo cookie, "I love Emily but when she goes into those rage fits like that, _I can't._ It's like she's on a one track path of self-destruction when she starts."

"Well, just like how The Hulk is calmed down by Betty Ross and the Beast is brought back to earth by Belle, Alison seems to be the only one that can bring Emily down from a 10 to a 2." Lacey pitches in her opinion as she reaches for her bottle of beer on the coffee table in front of them that she's been babying since Alison had arrived, 10 minutes before Emily came back, "You guys remember that last time Emily started up."

" _Oh God."_

" _I never want to relive that ever again."_ Yaris and Jasmine groan in recollection of such night in which Emily had a panic attack that led to a small tornado of destruction. "We had to basically call Alison as an emergency just to calm her down like shit...that night was crazy." Jasmine recalls.

"And with that," Lacey lifts the bottle up to her lips with a satisfied nod, "I say we did a pretty fucking good job with the timing."

* * *

Sitting in faded grey tank with deep side cuts and small jean shorts, Emily scrolls through her phone as she sits on the couch of her empty dorm, checking her work schedule just to realize that her manager, Chad, had her take the whole weekend off to ease tension between her and Vanessa. Although she's upset inside that this whole situation is affecting her hours, she's glad that she doesn't have to go into work while Alison is there, so for right now, she couldn't care less.

"I hope you don't mind. I went through your clothing and picked out something for myself."

Emily turns her head to witness Alison walking into the living space with Emily's large orange Pepperdine University sweater that she had cut the collar to hang off one shoulder and black boy shorts underneath that couldn't be seen unless she lifted up her arms.

" _No_ …" Emily gawks at Alison body as she tosses her phone to the side, admiring the sight that was presented in front of her with a hanging smile, "I don't mind at all." she beckons Alison to her with a wiggle of her finger as her eyes can't help themselves but scale the blonde up and down. Alison sways over to her with a light smirk and throws her leg over her thighs, straddling her with her arms placed around Emily's neck. "If we didn't just clean up, I would be _this close_ to making you dirty again." Emily leans into Alison, just barley hovering over her mouth.

"I'm never dirty when you touch me." Alison mumbles into Emily's lips, causing Emily to let out a soft chuckle before she slid her hand to the side of Alison's neck and pulled her in for a few slow pecks. They quickly elevate to a sensual kiss with their lips fitting perfectly around each other's: Alison closing around Emily's top lip and Emily cruising her tongue across Alison's bottom lip. Involuntarily, a moan rumbles out of Emily's throat as she catches a swipe of Alison's tongue when she slowly slipped it into her mouth.

"Hmm…..Where is everyone?" Alison questions within their kiss.

" _Don't worry about them…"_ Emily whispers back, not wanting her thoughts to be deviated from the matters at hand.

"No, seriously, where is everybody?" Alison pulls away to look at Emily's pout and disappointed face, "I don't want us to get walked in on."

Emily lets out a deep breath as her hands casually slide down Alison's back and cups her ass, " _Well_ …Jasmine left to go visit her family, Yaris is with her boyfriend, and Lacey is just out. They knew that they wanted to give us some space so they all left for the weekend. Granted, they might come in and out briefly but for the most part….we have this place all to ourselves."

Hearing the extra length Emily friends are going to take them comfortable brings a smile to Alison's face, making her feel warmth rushing through her body, "That's really nice of them to do."

"I know. I wouldn't ask for any other set of roommates." Emily coolly shrugs, " _They get me_."

"And you still have to go to work?"

"Nope. My schedule was cleared this weekend also."

" _What?_ "

"Yep."

" _Oh No_." Alison leans back with her face pinched and eyebrows frowned as she stares at Emily with disbelief, "This bitch is fucking with your money."

" _I know._ " Emily sighs. Holding onto Alison, she leans back into the couch as Alison's fingers tenderly trailed the back of her neck, still looking onto her with a concentrated expression. "But now I have to redeem myself and prove that I'm not a threat to the workplace. That I'm not someone who's a ticking time bomb but…." Emily shakes her head through her gritted teeth as she looks around the room, trying to find the right words, "she fucking _does that_ to me. Just seeing her makes me want get alcohol poisoning."

"I want to see this slut. See who the hell is giving you problems." Alison cops an attitude with Emily's arch enemy for a coworker. After Alison showed up and calmed Emily down enough to talk, Emily told her everything that has happened at her job, not holding back to express her anger towards Vanessa. And ever since Alison found out, she's been wanting to take a visit to _Moonshadow Malibu_. You know…just to try out their appetizers. "I bet she won't pull none of that with me. I seriously wish she would do some passive aggressive shit like grabbing a fork and I'll have her _swallow the bitch_."

"Oh, I would love to see that." Emily nuzzles up to Alison with a gushing smile, placing a kiss on her cheek.

"I'm serious." Alison responds back, still upset about the whole situation, "She can't do that to you. She can't nit-pick everything you do just because she's mad that you wouldn't give her attention. _No. Fuck that_. Who do I have to see to get her fired?"

"Well, you can't talk to really anybody."

"And why is that?"

"Because her dad owns the place. Not as a manager but as the corporate owner. The whole establishment belongs to her family."

Alison unbelievably rolls her eyes with a scoff, not surprised at the plot twist, " _Spoiled bitch_."

"You're so cute when you're defensive over me." Emily shakes her head with a scrunched up face, wiggling her nose at the blonde who straddled on top of her. She leans forward and kisses the bottom of Alison's jawline several times as Alison extends to the side to give her some more surface room.

"Lacey was telling me about the parties some people are throwing tonight." Alison comments, gaining Emily's attention as the blonde removed her arms from around her neck and brought them down to intertwine both of their hands together.

"There's quiet few parties going on tonight."

"We should go to one."

"What?" Emily questions with a confused smile, "Why? Why would you want to go a party when we have each other…." Emily lifts up one of their arms and kisses the back of Alison's hand, "in my bed…." she lifts the other hand and kisses it as well, "where you can get naked and I can do things to you?"

"Things?" Alison raises a brow.

" _Stuff…...thangs_ " Emily rasps her voice to mimic the popular saying from a Walking Dead character, making Alison let out a small chuckle before Emily softly kissed her lips again.

"But I want to check out these parties." Alison sighs with a whine coming from her poked out lips.

" _Seriously?_ " the persistence strikes Emily, not understanding why Alison would want to go to some party that is guaranteed to get wild when they can cut out the middle man and get wild from their own party in her bedroom. "Why?"

"I've never been to a college party before. I mean," Alison rolls her eyes with the tilt of her head, "we have when we were younger but today? Never been."

"So you haven't been to a real University party, huh?" Emily's eyes caught a small glimmer of curiosity as she leans back into the couch, making Alison lean closer into her with her own glimmer in a form of a daring smile.

"Let's do something fun tonight."

* * *

"Watch your step. Watch your-"

"Ow. _Shit._ "

"Hold my hand. Just follow my lead, we're almost there."

"This is crazy, you know that? I'm crazy for listening to you be crazy, taking me to an unknown crazy place."

" _Oh, Hush._ It'll be worth it, though. Trust me."

Pushing through the glass doors, the warm breeze of the summer night greets the two girls as Emily leads a blindfolded Alison to the secret location that she had planned for them that evening. Prior to getting to this point, being at their apartment before Alison got off work, Emily had created this night for them without the blonde's knowledge. When she got home, instead of being greeted by Emily, she was received by an empty apartment with a dress, heels, and accessories to match waiting for her on their bed. Fast forward, Alison was being led to her destination wearing a small, black silhouette dress that fit her body tight enough to show off her curves with metallic rose gold caged heels and an elegant high bun that allowed a few blonde strands to fall on the both sides of her face. Emily, on the other hand, dressed comfortably and casually with fitted leather pants, burgundy knee high boots, and a red, v neck chiffon blouse that had the first few buttons undone to show a bit of her chest. Her hair waved over her shoulders in the light wind as she directs Alison to a certain spot, stopping her from moving any farther.

"Are we there?" Alison turns her head from side to side as she questions when Emily stopped her from moving.

Taking her time to observe the made-up blonde in front of her, Emily silently nods her head, glancing over Alison from her head to her toes in awe of how well the outfit she chose for her came out. " _Yes_ …" She draws out in a low voice as she takes a few slow steps behind her, loosening up the blindfold to reveal where they were. Alison's mouth instantly feel upon seeing the scenery she was presented with, almost being at a loss for words. With the soft glow of purple and white lights, both Emily and Alison stand on the beautifully decorated rooftop, towering a full 19 stories in the air above the night city, creating an impressive, breathtaking view from the hotel owned spot Emily rented out privately for the evening. The single, white clothed table aligned by the clear glass borders overlooking the colorful nightlife was already pre-made with a bottle of Champagne, two poured glasses, and a bowl of strawberries set and ready for consumption. Alison turns around to face Emily with the means of shock written all over her face.

"You did this all for _me?_ "

Emily softly smiles at Alison, gazing hopelessly into her eyes as if she was the main attraction of the evening. _Which she was._ " _Yes_."

"Emily…" Alison brought her face together in disbelief as she searched into Emily's big brown eyes, trying to find the words that were taking from her, "I…I…"

"There's a lot of things that has happened in my life." Emily looks down from Alison's gaze for the first time as she reaches out to hold both of Alison's hands within hers, "A lot of things that I've done wrong, regret, and or wish that I could redo all over again. And out of all my life mistakes, I can say with all my heart that you are something that I did _right._ " With Emily's eyes trailing back up to meet Alison's, the blonde's heart begins to throb against her skin, feeling a warm shiver pass through her body as Emily begins her professing her feelings.

"Ever since we were still fresh in high school and I met you, the moment my feelings starting changing from platonic to romantic, I knew there was something about you that enticed me. _And I know you felt it too._ I don't know when but I know at one point, there was a switch for you as well." Emily flashes a smile, causing Alison to let out a shy giggle as she gently swung their hands side to side. "Slowly through the years of knowing each other, I learned a lot. Like for example, your arms…are security to me." Emily's eyes wither with a faint mixture between sadness and delight, realizing the severity of her words only to make Alison carefully watch over her with a mixed emotion expression as well, " _Your words_ are security to me. The way you _listen_ to me is a security, _your patience_ is a security, _you,_ Alison DiLaurentis, secure me in this crazy world-wind of a life and…." she slowly shakes her head, maintain their intense eye contact, "I don't think you know how much I value you. How you've become an essential key to my survival of everyday living." Alison gives a sad smile to the brunette, feeling the sensation of tears about to leave her as she listens to Emily pour out her heart with such passion behind her words. She's not sure if her legs can endure standing any longer.

"Through the days where everything is a bliss and nothing could go wrong to the nights where I feel I'm being haunted by the darkness in my mind, you've been always there for me when I'm not able to be there for myself." Emily bows her head with a small grimace, closing her eyes as she tightens her hold of Alison's hands, "And I know… _I know_ we have our issues, our difficulties that causes us to not see eye to eye all the time but I want you to know that through our arguments and fighting," the brunette rises her head once again with her eyebrows pinched together in pure focus as she gazes back into Alison's eyes, "…I never lose the love I have for you. The blue in your eyes, how calming and serene they are one moment to how demanding and seductive they can become mesmerizes me like no other. How your lips…feel against mine, lingering there in the stillness of the world is a constant reminder that nothing tastes better than you. The words you leave me with tend to echo in my head throughout the day like a song you hear in the mornings that ends up sticking with you for the whole 24 hours because _you_ are my daily melody. _You_ are the melody that keeps my demons away. And with that, I now understand…." Emily trails off, biting her lip as she stares at Alison for a few silent seconds, "I exist to experience you."

Holding on as long as she could, the first two tears fall from Alison's eyes as she feels like her heart was about to burst. Throughout life, she's been told a lot of things, both positive and negative, but never has she ever been told that her very existence was the fuel power to another human being's livelihood. Things that she would hear in cheesy romance movies and novels, she had no idea would be words being told to her with such desire, such sincere emotion. This surreal feeling began to make her spin.

"You know...we're not supposed to be here." Emily reaches up and wipes away Alison's tears, being very careful not to smudge her makeup, "We weren't supposed to make it past 18." Hearing the last sentence uttered by the brunette caused even more tears from Alison as she covers her hand over Emily's, staring deeply in her eyes with all of her heart.

"But we did." Alison response comes out in a fragile whisper.

" _But we did._ " Emily repeats with the nodding her head and a warm smile. She pulled everything she had within her to not cry at the sight of the Alison being vulnerable in front of her because she knew if she started, their night would quickly become a cry-fest and they wouldn't get to enjoy the night she had planned for them. "We did and I thank God because of it because I am able to stand here with you," Emily takes a step closer to Alison to close the gap between them, "overlooking the city of Santa Monica, California on your 23rd birthday." she softly strokes Alison's cheek with her thumb, allowing the gradual build of her smile to grow, "Happy birthday, Alison."

Before Alison could speak the words to thank her, Emily pulls out a small dark blue box from her back pocket, gaining wide eyes and a mouth slightly parted open from Alison at the sight of the gift. " _Emily, no_." she gasps out lightly, darting her eyes back and forth from Emily to the box her hands.

" _Alison, yes_." Emily grins, extending the tiny box into Alison's palm. Alison stares up at her with apprehension for a few moments before she looked back down at the box, hesitating to open it due to not knowing how much her heart could take. They've been on this rooftop for about five minutes and she's already been overwhelmed more than her whole body can handle. However, not to keep Emily waiting, Alison slowly lifts up the top of the box to present a diamond and gold ring with their names engraved into it.

" _Emily_ …" Alison cries out, immediately covering her mouth from the display of the jewelry as tears now flooded down her face. Intertwining bands of silver and gold, two of the ring's silver bands are set with 12 diamonds each, the inner band engraved with the sentiment, " _Loves Keeps Us Together_ " along with " _Emily_ " and " _Alison_ " written in elegant script on the ring's 18K gold-plated band. "This is so beautiful! _My God!_ "

"This ring is my promise to you." Emily pulls the ring out of its cushion and holds up Alison's left hand, sliding the band onto her left ring finger, "My promise that I would never abandon you and that I will always love you no matter where we are."

Alison's lips tremble into a loving smile just before Emily slides her hand up the side of her face, pulling her into a sweet embrace of a kiss.

…

Not divulging into a huge dinner, the girls opt to eat light for their three course meal, making sure to leave enough room for desert afterwards. Double, triple, and quadruple checking things over, Emily talked to the host and had the whole night lined up exactly how she envisioned. With the light music playing in the background from the playlist she put together and the more than perfect and professional waiters doing a phenomenal job, Emily could proudly boast to herself at how well things were tying together. _There was still one major thing that has yet to happen…_

"I don't want to ask this…" Alison twirls her fork inside her Linguini Pomodoro topped with crisp bacon, grabbing as much pasta her silverware could hold.

Emily squints her eyes with a smirk as she raised her glass of _Amour de Deutz_ -a champagne bottle she brought for their table- to her lips, "Then don't ask."

"But I have to." Alison groans with a sigh as she stops her coiling up her pasta and stares at Emily with a tilted head, "…How much did you spend on tonight?"

"Didn't I say not to ask?" Emily chuckles with as she leans back into her chair, still with her glass in hand.

"I know you had to have blown some _serious_ money. I mean the dress, the heels, this entire place, food, champagne, _this ring._ " Alison lifts up her left hand and examines the piece of jewelry for the 20th time that night. However, this time instead of admiring it, she inspected the small details of the craft,"This ring must have cost you _at least_ $200. Oh! And I like how you conveniently had our menus without the prices on it." Alison wags her finger at the brunette with a flick of her eyebrows, " _Smooth touch_."

Emily tries to keep herself from laughing but ends up with a big closed-lipped grin that probably gave her away, "Alison-"

"I love what you've done for me." Alison switches up sympathetically, " _Honestly_. This night is incredible. Easily one of the top moments of my life but I would have been perfectly fine cuddling with you, watching a Law and Order SVU marathon if that meant you not spending so much."

"Look, don't worry about it."

"Em-"

"I know a few people and pulled some strings here and there." Emily leans forward and places her glass onto the table, holding Alison's eyes with an indifferent shrug, "Trust me. It's not a big deal." The last thing Emily would want to do is worry Alison about the price of her birthday night because if she would have known how much their tab was going to come out to, let alone how much it was to reserve the space, buy Alison's outfit, and her ring, Alison would probably choke on her Linguini and order her to return everything. Even her unfinished pasta. Receipt and all. But she felt like all was necessary for the special occasion.

….

Being brought out their orders of dessert towards the end of their dinner, Alison cheerfully jumps into her _Pink Lady Apple Crostata_ with vanilla ice cream as Emily watched her through unfiltered heart eyes, not even attempting to hide her long gazes. Cutting a piece of her apple pastry and putting it into her mouth, Alison's eyes close with a faint, satisfied moan being vibrated within her throat. The warm crust of her crostata mixed with the ice cream tasted so well on her tongue that she couldn't help herself from visibly showing her satisfaction. When she opened her eyes, she caught onto Emily staring at her with a bite of her inside bottom lip.

"Is…is there something on my face?" Alison grows anxious and reaches for her napkins to wipe away any crumbs she might have left behind. Emily simply shakes her head as she continued to gaze at the blonde. Within that same moment, the doors to the rooftop open and in walked the waiter along with a group of formally dressed people tailing after him. Upon seeing the server, Alison takes a double take when she noticed the five people-sized group approaching their table with an inviting smile. Alison forces a smile back at them briefly before she turns to Emily with perplexed, squinted eyes, not understand anything that was happening. Not saying a word nor changing her facial expression, Emily eyes stayed glued onto Alison, not even looking at the people approaching them.

"May I refill your glass, madam?" the waiter dressed in all black politely asked Alison before he created any other movement.

"Uhm y-yes, please." Alison quickly glances up to the male server, prompting him to grab their table bottle and top off Alison's drinking glass, "Thank you, Dominic." she thanked him accordingly. Just as she was going to turn back to look at Emily, the corner of her eyes catches two men coming through the sliding glass double doors, rolling a grand piano onto the rooftop. That's when she also noticed that out of the five nicely dressed strangers, two of them were holding instruments: a violin and an acoustic guitar.

 _That's why Emily is unmoved. She brought these people over…._

 _Oh God…_

 _OH GOD._

 _They're going to perform!_

"Hello, Ms. DiLaurentis." the young woman bows her head at Alison as she stands in front of the group, "Ms. Fields." she directs her bow to Emily, "My name is Quinn along with Sandie, Abigail, Shawn, Jaiden, and Harrison and we are _Heavenly Hearts_ , your late evening entertainment." the golden-chestnut toned young woman introduces herself and the band behind her as the waiter maneuver silently to refill Emily's glass, "Tonight is a special night as it is Alison's 23rd birthday and we've been asked to join you for a special performance put together by Emily. We hope you two enjoy yourselves and that we only add magic to your already night of splendor."

Alison sucks in a small inhale as she sets down her fork, dusting off her dress in nervousness as she drops her head to prevent herself from looking at Emily and starting another round of tears. The group consisting with 3 female singers and 3 male instrument players, they prepare themselves to begin their small performance that Emily paid for them to do. Searching for local acts that wouldn't cost her to remove her limbs, Emily took the liberty of "trying-out" the performers beforehand to find the right set of people who could recreate the sound she wanted down to perfection. Things she found necessary for this special occasion that she's been planning for quite some time now.

Quietly counting down, the young males on the piano and guitar begin softly playing a melody that Alison immediately caught onto before the violin charmed into the harmony. Her eyes shot up to Emily's who smiled back at her, knowing that she knows what song it was.

" **What song is this?" Alison whispers only low enough for Emily to hear her as her interest in the blended instruments strikes her attracted.**

" _ **I dunno**_ **…" Emily mumbles back, relishing in Alison's soft touches, "This is the first time I'm hearing it."**

" **I like it."**

 **"Me too...This can be our song if you want."**

 **Alison smiles as the music flows perfectly to harmonize into something sad yet beautiful, almost like their bittersweet goodbye. "Sure," she agrees, "This is our song."**

" _Baby, I love you. You are my life. My happiest moments weren't completed if you weren't by my side._ " Quinn, the lead singer sings the first few lines of the song's first verse with her two backup vocalists harmonizing delicately in the background. " _You're my relation, in connection to the sun. With you next to me, there's no darkness I can't overcome_."

With the singer's voice being so crisp and full of life, Emily can't do anything but gaze hopelessly at Alison as the song's lyrics speak the words she's been feeling for her flawlessly.

" _You are my raindrops, I am a seed. With you and God, who's my sunlight, I bloom and grow so beautifully. Baby, I'm so proud. So proud to be your girl. You make the confusion go all away from this cold and mixed up world._ "

Sucking in her bottom lip with her brows brought inwards, Emily feels the buildup starting in the back of her throat and the stinging of her eyes as the words begin hitting her on an emotional level. Thinking back on everything they've been through since the night of Alison's disappearance to meeting her again two years later, the aftermath of the dollhouse and everything else up until that exact moment in time, Emily tries everything in her well-being to stop tears from falling.

" _Cause I! Am in love with you! You set me free. I can't do this thing called life without you here with me_. _'Cause I'm dangerously in love with you. I'll never leave. Just keep lovin' me the way I love you loving me."_

Alison extends her hand across the table and holds Emily's hand within hers, only looking at her as if there was nobody else on the rooftop but them. The blended sounds that the piano, violin, and guitar created, produced an incredible amount of warmth that outdid the summer air, not to mention the goosebumps that were arising from the vocals unifying to make one angelic sound. With her eyes filled to the brim, just waiting for one blink to send them over the edge, Emily glances down at their entangled hand with a slow exhale as the first tear rolled down her cheek. Alison's heart does a mixture of dance when she sees Emily losing control of her emotions for the first time tonight. However, just seeing her break only makes her more defenseless to her own feelings as she begins to tear up as well.

" _I see myself being your wife and I see my whole future in your eyes. Thought of all my love for you sometimes make me wanna cry. Realize all my blessings, I'm grateful to have you by my side."_ Taking the song to another level with everyone really getting into their share of the act, the group continues on with the song as the girls hold onto each other's hand, softy smiling at each other through the midst of the overpowering emotions that just hit them. For a birthday dinner, the stops that Emily decided to pull were paying off vastly and she hopes it could be a memory that they could hold onto for a lifetime.

….

Opening their apartment door, it only took milliseconds after locking it for Alison to throw herself into Emily's arms to begin kissing her passionately. Although initially surprised yet quick with her reflexes, Emily tossed the keys to the side, not caring that it fell on the floor and grabbed Alison's face to reciprocate back the kiss. Other than the emotional moments that they shared at their dinner, there was a lot of sexual tension that was created between the two the moment they sat down. For Alison, she would say the moment she started getting turned on and seeing things through sexual googles was when they were waiting for their main course dish, sipping on their champagne when her eyes caught one of the many lustful gazes Emily was giving her.

 **"What are you think about?" Alison swirls her glass in her hand as she narrowed her eyes at the brunette sitting from across her.**

 **Leaned back in her chair with her fingers resting over her lips and lower face, Emily's eyes drift up to Alison's after taking in the blonde's body in her dress. "If I was to tell you," Emily rasps out in a low voice to match her low eyes, "…you would blushing the whole night…unable to look our waiter in the eye. Afraid he'll know what you're thinking with the words of my particularly** _ **dirty**_ **vocabulary churning around in your mind." Alison almost stops breathing with the intensity of their eye contact and the self-control and almost possessive tone in Emily's voice causes her clench her jaw. Emily's keeps her face unreadable as she could practically see Alison's breathing slowing down due to the nature of her response. Emily's mouth parts open slightly as she arched an eyebrow at the immobile blonde, "** _ **Did that answer your question?**_ **"**

Pulling away from Emily's hands in a rushed state, Alison crouches halfway to take off her heels that she couldn't stand to have on anymore. As her hands quickly fumble with the straps, Emily takes the open opportunity to unzip her knee-high boots in the process just as hurriedly. Moments like these where their hormones are so winded up, they don't care where things land as long as they are off and not in the way. Slipping out of and chucking the heels to the side faster than Emily was able to take off her shoes, Alison reaches back up to Emily's lips, forcing her tongue inside as Emily tries to balance kissing back and pulling off her boots at the same time. Alison decides to multitask with a one-track mind and reaches her hands down to the front of Emily's leather pants, rummaging to undo her belt in order to knock out two birds with one stone. Finally, tugging the shoes off her feet, Emily grasps Alison's face once again, catching the flick of her tongue before she latched onto Alison's bottom lip, holding her there while Alison slips her belt out of her buckle yanks it from her pants' belt loops. Also tossing the belt to the side, before Alison had the chance to work the buttons of Emily's pants, Emily bends down and picks up the blonde out of surprise, immediately making Alison wrap her legs around her hips with a firm hold.

" _Fuck me_." Alison hisses her desires in the middle of their kiss, " _Right now_."

Hearing the straight-forwardness of Alison's demand, Emily pulls away, shaking her head as she catches her breath, "I'm not going to fuck you." she responds back with a look of confusion and disappointment on Alison's now wilted face at her reply during the heat of the moment. "I'm not going to fuck you…I'm going to make love to you…" Emily eyes grow soft as she looks into the blues that make her weak, "because that's what you deserve tonight."

"Emily?" Alison innocently calls out her name as she straighten herself up, facing eye to eye to the brunette with her arms thrown around her neck.

"Yes?"

Alison's hands glides along both sides of Emily's face, cupping her as she leaned into her, maintaining their eye contact, " _Fuck. Me._ " she commands in a low and serious tone.

Dropping her head, Emily lets out light chuckle, "I tried to be romantic but," she lifts her gaze back up to Alison's with a captivated eyebrow raise, "it looks like you have other plans. Such a _dirty mouth_ you have." she teases in faked displeasure.

"Don't act surprised." Alison smirks as she leans in to give a peck to Emily' lips, still smiling.

"Say it." Emily's eyes narrow, fixated on the blonde as her voice lowers to a growl, feeling her lust rising to a dangerous level, "Say it again, if you really want me to."

" _Fuck me_." Alison repeats again with more enthusiasm as she kisses her again. Her lips travel from her mouth, across her jaw and down to her neck as she picks up speed, ravishing Emily with kisses all over, " _Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me_." Alison moans into Emily's skin with every kiss she leaves on her. The overwhelming sensation of her frantic kisses, the moaning, and of course the word choice, Emily staggers a bit and rests her back against a wall, closing her eyes to handle the upped movements. Changing up to a few sucks and licks, Alison's works her way up to Emily's right ear, " _Fuck me, Emily._ " she whispered with the most seductive voice she had in her, ending her light whine with a small bite to Emily's earlobe.

Emily opens her eyes lazily, feeling so desired within Alison's jurisdiction that she feels like she's on top of the world, floating on cloud nine. " _Your wish is my command, baby._ " she readjusts her hold, lifting Alison up with a small bounce as she walks her towards their bedroom, their tongues swirling around each other's before their lips met.

 _Memoirs._

 _Recollections._

 _Nostalgia._

 _W_ _h_ _en we feel nostalgia, we are reminded that life has provided us with some very satisfying experiences. Those moments have value because they allow us to appreciate how rich our lives have been, and can continue to be._

 _But….why am I absolutely terrified of nostalgia sometimes? It likes to creep up on me when I am working at 2-3am in the morning, when I can no longer keep it at bay._

 _Oh. Fun fact I learned. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people use nostalgia to literally feel warmer._

 _Did you know that?_

 _Amazing how strong the mind-body link is, don't you think?_

 **Dang flabbit.**

 **I should have just bolded the entire chapter seeing that it was just a compilation of flashbacks.**

 **Juuuust so you can get an idea of some of the things that happened after Rosewood.**

 **You know Beyoncé? Chick that performed at the Super Bowl? Yeah, her. You remember her earlier albums back in the day? Dangerously in Love? Yeah, why don't you go ahead and play that song while you re-read that scene between Em and Ali during their dinner, letting your imagination act it out in front of you so you can possible cry as well if you didn't already. I can almost guarantee a semi-trailer will randomly fly through your house and hit you head on. You won't die but you'll be close to death :) Because I am and I wrote the darn thing.**

 **Anyways, I know you have something to say. Well don't hold back! What was your favorite scene and why?**

 _ **Yeah, I hit you with an essay prompt question.**_ **And you better have it done because it's due at the end of class. I'm tired of calling your guardians because of the zeros you keep collecting.**

 **(Don't stay silent about this fic. Let everyone know what you're reading. _*Snaps*_ Matter of fact, bring it up next time at the dinner table.) **


End file.
